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THE 



DRUSES OF THE LEBANON : 



THEIR MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND HISTORY. 



WITH A TRANSLATION OF 



THEIR RELIGIOUS CODE, 



BY 

GEORGE WASHINGTON CHASSEAUD, 

LATE OF BEYROTJT, SYRIA. 



"When I travelled, I took a particular delight in hearing the songs and 
fables that are come from father to son, and are most in vogue among 
the common people of the countries through which I passed." — Spectator. 



LONDON : 

RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, 
^uiltsfjer in ©ttmrarg to %ter ji&ajestg. 
1855. 



The Author reserves to himself the right of Translation. 




■XT' 



a 



NEWELL, PRINTER, MILE END ROAD. 



TO LADY FRANKLIN. 



Dear M ad am, 

Looking round to select a person to whom I might 
fitly dedicate this work, I recollected the very kind 
and flattering encouragement you gave me, while with 
a trembling hand and anxious heart I was penning its 
contents. Although it was my intention to reserve 
the pleasure of showing my gratitude by a work 
more deserving your attention, I hope that, how- 
ever unpretending, the present composition will be 
acceptable. 

When your Ladyship did my home at Beyrout 
the honour of a visit, and became the guest of my 
parents, I was not then in being; and little did they 
think that a son yet unborn would one day write a 
book, and that you would so encouragingly second his 



iv 

first attempts at authorship: — so little do we know 
what fortune has in store for us, — so dim and dark is 
the vista of our hopes and fears,— so beyond calculation 
the uncertain future. 

This reflection leads me to hope that in dedi- 
cating this work to you, you will allow me to express 
ray feelings of deep sympathy at the sad changes 
which have taken place since the period above alluded 
to. I know from the sentiments entertained by the 
press of England, and I may say of the world, that 
in thus expressing myself I embody also the feelings 
of the people of England, France, and America, at 
the lamentable disappearance of Sir John Franklin, 
and the mournful circumstances connected with the 
sad catastrophe; but it is some alleviation to your 
Ladyship's sorrow to know that the name of that noble 
and intrepid navigator will live for ever, to grace the 
brightest page in the history of our country. 

I remain, 

Dear Madam, 
Yours very faithfully, 

The Author. 

London, December, 1854. 



PREFACE 



If any one take up this work on the Druses of the 
Lebanon, in the expectation of meeting with profound 
speculations or original views, he will probably be 
disappointed. I have merely spoken of things as I 
have really seen them. I tell " straight on what I 
myself do know/' and endeavour, in an easy and 
familiar manner, to lay before the reader a sketch of 
the character, manners, customs, history, and pos- 
sessions of the Druses. If I am asked what could 
induce me to undertake the task of delineating a 
people so extraordinary — whose history has puzzled 
philosophers in all ages, — my simple reply is, that the 
task was an easy one to me, for Sj r ria is the land of my 
birth, and my earliest boyhood has been passed among 



vi PREFACE. 

her people : so that I have had facilities for my work 
which no mere traveller is ever likely to obtain. 
Being conversant with Arabic, and the different dialects 
spoken in the country, I have mingled freely among 
the mountain tribes, always upon terms of the 
greatest intimacy. I have partaken freely of their 
hospitality, not as a stranger but a friend. I have 
learnt to appreciate their Emirs and Akals by daily 
intercourse with them ; and thus living among their 
people, their land my birth-place and the abode of 
my early youth, there has to me been a charm in 
pondering upon the history of this singular people ; and 
with delight I have studied (for living among them as 
I did, how could I help doing sol) their character, and 
maimers and customs. The result I present to my 
gentle reader, hoping that the fact of my intimacy 
with scenes and people I describe will induce him to 
feel more interest in perusing my work. 

It will be seen that I have derived the materials 
of my rapid historical summary in some part from 
existing authors ; but I have not trusted entirely to 
them — I have relied in a great degree upon oral com- 
munication with the people ; for it must be remem- 
bered, that it is with them as with most pastoral and 



PREFACE. \ r ii 

primitive people, the wants of each successive genera- 
tion are handed down from father to son, so that the 
living representatives of each passing age become the 
principal depositories of the facts of their previous 
history. 

" Hort was die alten Hirten sich erzalen," 

is an invitation always coupled with authority, because 
we know that the relater, whatever may be his defi- 
ciencies, intends to tell the truth, and that is a great 
point gained. The historian is ordinarily too apt to let 
party spirit or private prejudice give a colour to his 
story, so that the past, instead of being faithfully 
painted, is but the reflex of the present ; but the old 
man who sits clown with you to tell you the old story 
which was told to him, feels bound simply to deliver 
the trust as faithfully as it was confided to him, and 
would not tell you if he thought you would not do the 
same. — " We have heard with our ears, and our fathers 
have declared unto us" must ever be the best guarantee 
for the trustworthiness of the narrator. 

The interesting and extraordinary Creed which I 
append, I have taken every care to translate faithfully. 
It is to be found in an Arabic manuscript in my pos- 
session, which I obtained in the year 1851 with a great 



Vlll PREFACE. 

deal of trouble, and after much bargaining, from a 
Maronite gentleman residing in the village of Hadded, 
on the Lebanon, who was engaged in initiating me 
into the mysteries of the Arabic language. 

Should my work be acknowledged as not devoid of 
interest or instruction, I shall feel fully repaid for all 
my labour: the Reader's favor will be my best 
reward. In the hope that I shall obtain it, 

I remain, 

His humble servant, 

The Author. 



London, December, 1854. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Page. 

Introduction — Local Reminiscences — Beautiful Scenery — Morn- 
ing on the Mountains— Nature's Incense— Cedars of Lebanon 
— Approach to Sidon — Antiquity of the City — Climate — 
The Modern Town — Beautiful Carvings — Population and 
Trade — Sidon as it is — Beyrout — Its Picturesque Position — 
Sunrise — Morning Scenes — Bathers and Boatmen — The 
Morning Meal — Bounty of Nature 1 



CHAPTER II. 



Business Activity — Panorama of Costumes — Natives and 
Foreigners — A Daughter of the Druses — English Milords 
— Rambles through the Streets — Bazaars and Shops — 
Souvenirs of Syria, — The Hammam — The Fashionable 
Promenade — The Close of the Day 21 



CHAPTER III. 



Night Scene— "All's Well!"— The Muedden Call— Morning at 
a Khan— Nahr Beyrout — A Maronite Village — The Ascent 
of Maroccos— Lime-pits at Bet-Mirih — The usual Rendezvous 
— Native Threshing Floors 33 



X 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Page. 

The Convent at Deir-il-Kala — Provisions for the Winter — Mode 
of Making Burghol — The Silkworm — First Stage of Exis- 
tence — Shifting its First Skin — Second State of Torpor — 
The Khook — Third State of Torpor — Superstition — 
.K'farchima 44 

CHAPTER V. 

K'farchima— Oil Mill — Olive Groves- — Ancient Customs — Moral 
Characteristics — The Palace of the Emir — The Reception 
Hall— Description of the Interior — Ceremonious Reception 
■ — The Emir's Daughters — Our Host . . . . .56 

CHAPTER VI. 

The European Hat— Interior of the Druse's House— Preparations 
for Supper — The Dessert — Abou Shein's History — The 
Friendless Lad — Love at First Sight — Early Obstacles — 
The Blind Old Beggar- A " Gin"— Prison-Breaking — The 
Escape — Beginning of Troubles — The Conscription — Turkish 
Soldiers— New Hopes Awakened — Successful Efforts — The 
Tantour — Druse Opulence — A Stern Father — The Return 
Home — Druse Philosophy 67 

CHAPTER VII. 

Night — Panorama of the Past — Israel in Lebanon — The Builders 
of the Temple— News of the Saviour — Ruthless Invaders — 
The Disciples of Mahomet — The Crusades— Early Morning 90 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Druse Housewife — Domestic Preparations — Scarcity of Meat 
— Remarkable Phenomena — Petrifactions — Convent at 
Karkafe — Story Relative to the Cook — Recreation of the 
Monks — The Monks of Karkafe - The Dining Room — Bread 
Room and Storehouse — The Last Resting Place . . .101 



CONTENTS. 



xi 



CHAPTER IX. 

Page. 

Return to the Druse's House — Druse Women — Their Acquire- 
ments — Metaphor — The Result — Harems of the East — An 
Accomplished Fashionable — Windows of the Mind — Lions 
of Society— The English Nation— The Queen . . .114 



CHAPTER X. 

Singular Phenomenon— A Sturdy Messenger — Hammood's Song 
— Oriental Verse — Old English Ditty — The Hospitable 
Highlander — Pamphlets and Newspapers — Incidents of 
Long-past Years — The "Times" Newspaper — "Punch" on 
Mount Lebanon — A Silk Factory — European Machinery — 
Profitable Chance — Artificial Precipice — Departure from the 
Factory 126 



CHAPTER XL 

A Bridal Procession — Arrival of the Bride — Brilliant Cortege — 
Juvenile Fiancailles — Druse Morality — Love Matches — 
Marriage Contract— The Bridegroom — The Bride — Display 
of Grief — Illustration of Parables ■ — Preparations for the 
Marriage — Arrival of the Cavalcade 142 



CHAPTER XII. 

Festal Scene — A Druse Orator and Poet — Chorus of Arab 
Women — Improvisation — Complimentary Address — Druse 
Ambition — The Dinner — Arabian Dance — The Bride — The 
Bridal Chamber — Conclusion of the Vt r edding Festivities — 
Superstition . • . . . . . . . . .156 



CHAPTER XIII. 



The Ansyriis — Druse Emigration — Spirit of Independence — 
Critical Position — A Princedom on Lebanon — Sacred Cities 
— Shein's Account of a Druse Insurrection — Signal of Alarm 
— Conclusion of Shein's Account 169 



Xll CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Character of the Druses— Dictates of Conscience — The Order of 
Akal— The " Chief of the Stars"— Law of Divorce— Law of 
Inheritance — Druse Cadi — Rights of Hospitality — Djezzar 
Pasha — Division into Classes — Domestic Duties — Births — 
The Practice of Serenading — Children's Cradles — Supersti- 
tions — Diet among the Druses — Dread of Suspicion . . 181 

CHAPTER XV. 

Leave-taking — Departure from K'Farchima — Disagreeable En- 
counters — Critical Position — Encounter with a Muleteer — 
Hypocritical Essays — Mountain Travelling — Approach to 
Ainab — Hungry Troops of Jackals — Arrival at Ainab — The 
Reception Hall of the Sheik — Princely Hospitality — Sheik 
Ebn Ham dan — An Assembly of Natives — The Arabic 
Language 196 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Beauty of the Emir's Palace at Bet-il-Deen — Bounties of Nature 
— Beautiful Scenery — Prolific Nature of the Soil — Exterior 
View of the Palace — Picturesque Groups of Visitors — Inte- 
rior of the Palace — Opulence of the Emir— Outbreak between 
the Man of Bet-il-Deen and the Peasant — Spirit of Inde- 
pendence — Deir-il-Kamar — -Abused Hospitality — Abou Shein 
— Surnames not used by the Druses . . . . .212 

CHAPTER XVIL 

Jerusalem-manufactured Soap — Preparations for the Hunt — First 
Appearance of Game — Eastern Hawking — Abundance of 
Game — A Herd of Gazelles — Hunting the Gazelle — The 
Falconer — Oriental Forethought — Shooting the Beccafigoes 
— Departure of the Falconer — Approach to Beyrout — 
Parting with the Druse .227 

CHAPTER XVIII. 



Antiquity of the Druses — The Druse People — Battle near Sidon 



CONTENTS. 



Xlll 



—Family Feuds — Hafeez marches upon Banias and Shakeff 
— Defeat of the Turks — Mohamet Pasha a Cunning Politi- 
cian — Valour of the Druses — The Invaders Dispersed. — The 
Sultan Mustapha — Discomfiture of the Turks— The Grand 
Duke of Tuscany and the Druse Emir .... 244 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Return of the Emir to Lebanon — Jenghis Khan — A Flag of Truce 
— Fakereddeen — Individual Attainments — The Greatness of 
Fakereddeen — The Bedouins of the Desert — The Land of 
Idumea — Turkish Pashas in 1626 — Druse Insubordination — 
Chivalry of the Druses — 'Character of Fakereddeen — Druse 
Independence 258 



CHAPTER XX. 

The Red and the White Turban— Sandys on the Druses — Fake- 
reddeeri's Mother — Fakeredden is Bowstrung — The Shehaab 
Family — Mohamet Pasha — Baneful Policy of the Pashas — 
A Youthful Chieftain — The Merchant of Antioch — Hares' 
Tails — Revolt of the Natives of the Bekaa — The Renowned 
Daher — Civil War — Daher victorious 273 



CHAPTER XXI. 

The Fall of Jaffa — Djezzar Pasha — Napoleon Bonaparte — Egypt 
— Panorama of the East — Joseph and the Ishmaelite Mer- 
chants — Reception of Jacob in Egypt — The Exodus from 
Egypt — Overthrow of the Egyptian Army — The Hivites and 
the Druses — Origin of the Druses — The Druse Creed — Mis- ' 
sionary Labour . ........ 288 



CHAPTER XXII. 



The Druses and the English — Ibrahim Pasha — Policy of Ibrahim 
Pasha — Outbreak among the Druses — Individual Suffering 



XIV CONTENTS. 

Page. 

— European Policy— The Convent at Deir-il-Karkafe — A 
Shrewd Priest — His Success in America — Syria a Field for 
Emigrants — Loyalty of the Druses — Effects of Petty War- 
fare — Prospects of Peace 302 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Beyrout — The Druse Population — Lebanon — Druse Villages — 
Hadded — Sir Sidney Smith at Ain Anoob — Brummana — 
Sale of Timber — The Village of Corneille — A Prussian Lady 

— Effects of Jealousy— Escape from Prison — A Fearful 
Tragedy — A Victim to Jealousy — -Druse Villages — Iron 
Mine 316 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Anti-Libanus — The People of the Lebanon — The Village B'shari 
— Terraces on the Mountain Sides — Method of Constructing 
Terraces — Prolific Nature of the Soil — Druse Villages — - 
G'bel Il-Sheik — Pestilential Morasses — Characteristic of the 
Druses of Anti-Libanus — The Village Hasbeia — The Process 
of Dyeing — A French Oil Press — Villages— Mines — Effects 
of Mountain Warfare 330 

CHAPTER XXV. 

The Houran — Kanout — Ancient Mention of the Houran— The 
Houran the Granary of Syria — Ruins of a Temple — Ezra — 
Millstones — Description of the Buildings — Ruins — Stone 
Doors — Scarcity of Water — Jealousy of the Natives — An 
Ancient Aqueduct — Superstitions of the Natives — Buried 
Treasures — The Country of Idumea 345 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



The Origin of the Druses— The Druses and the Hivites — Com- 
parison between the Druses and the Hivites — Ibrahim 



CONTENTS. 



XV 



Pasha — Courage of Ibrahim Pasha— The Druses and the 
Ottoman Government — The Country round Jerusalem — 
Character of the Druses — The Druse Creed .... 359 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

The Present Emir of the Druses — His Seat of Judgment — 
System of Taxation — Persons Exempt from Taxation — The 
Order of Akals — Necessary Forbearance — Period of Proba- 
tion — The Khaloues, or Places of Worship — Funeral of an 
Akal — A Native-born Doctor — Medical Practice — Cure for a 
Fainting Fit — hunting the Scorpion — Veneration for Larks 
— Conclusion 371 



Religious Code of the Druses Translated 



389 



THE DRUSES 

OF 

THE LEBANON 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTION — LOCAL REMINISCENCES — BEAUTIFUL SCENERY — 
MORNING ON THE MOUNTAINS — NATURE'S INCENSE — CEDARS 
OF LEBANON — APPROACH TO SIDON — ANTIQUITY OF THE CITY 
— CLIMATE — THE MODERN TOWN — BEAUTIFUL CARYINGS — 
POPULATION AND TRADE — SIDON AS IT IS — BEYROUT — ITS 
PICTURESQUE POSITION — SUNRISE — MORNING SCENES — BATHERS 
AND BOATMEN— THE MORNING MEAL — BOUNTY OF NATURE. 

" Ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an 
ensign on an hill." — Isaiah xxx. 17. 

Before entering upon the theory and creed enter- 
tained by the Druses, and drawing our own conclusions 
therefrom, it will be most essential that the reader 
should be made acquainted (so far as it lies in our 
power to glean information on so exclusive a subject) 
with the past and present condition of the Druses, 
their supposed history, the country they inhabit, 
and the manners, customs, costumes, and employments 

B 



2 



LOCAL REMINISCENCES. 



of this peculiar people or sect, — living as they do in 
the very heart of a country in all ages populated, and 
celebrated for centuries as the most beautiful and most 
fruitful district of a land flowing with milk and honey. 

Who that is a Christian, and acquainted with the 
pages of Holy Writ, has not heard of Lebanon and her 
cedars'? Almost every book in the Old Testament 
has some allusion to this spot; and many are the 
praises lavished upon the trees and the wines of Leba- 
non. To this day, this stately range of snow-crowned 
mountains remains the object of veneration to many 
sects inhabiting, and many creeds visiting, the shores 
of Palestine. 

To the artist, the poet, the enthusiast in the pic- 
turesque and the beautiful, the shores of Palestine from 
Sidon to Beyrout are one inexhaustible chain of 
treasures — one extensive panorama of the most delicate 
and the most stately delineations of nature — a picture 
finished off and framed by that incomparable artist, the 
Great Workman whose word created the universe. 

On a summer's morning the approach from sea to the 
shores between Sidon and Beyrout presents one of the 
most magnificent and inspiriting pictures ever looked 
upon by mortal man. The deep yet clear blue of the 
almost motionless sea that ripples gently against the 
sides of our bark, as, urged imperceptibly onwards by 
the breath of the morning breeze, she slips noiselessly 
over the placid waters, is gradually lighted up as the 
last ray of the morning star disappears beyond the 



BEAUTIFUL SCENERY. 



western horizon. Universal quiet reigns around, and, 
save the occasional plaintive creaking of the rigging of 
our boat, as ever and anon she rolls more deeply on the 
watery surface, there is not a sound to break the still- 
ness, not a whisper to wake up nature from her drowsy 
lethargy. Gradually, however, the spirit of night 
gathers around her her dark blue mantle, steps away 
rapidly over earth and sea, till presently her shrinking 
form hovers only over the uttermost limits of the west- 
ern horizon : she pauses but as for an instant to turn 
round and bless those whose drooping eyelids she has 
crowned with peaceful slumber, and to receive the 
benedictions of universal nature for the soft night dews 
which have revived the parched earth and invigorated 
the vegetable creation. The blushing rose of summer 
smiles forth her thanks in rich incense and beauty, and 
the hoary snow-capped peak of Lebanon crowns him- 
self with the first golden rays of light, as night sinks to 
rest beyond the waves of the Mediterranean, and the 
brighter mantle of morn is cast upon the universe. 

So Adam woke to pristine joys and hope. 
As wakes the summer morn on Lebanon ; 
Each snow-capped hill, each pleasant grassy slope, 
Clad in the glorious vesture of the morn. 
How could the mind, sustained by such a sight, 
Tremble at death, or ever dream of night. 
AVhilst nature all around — earth, moon-beams, sea, and sky — 
Breathe hope of such- like joys eternally ? 
Courage ! brave soldier of the Christian band ! 
One manful struggle, and the victory won — 
One plunge, and we are landed on that land 
Where smiles are planets — joys a radiant sun, 

B 2 



4 



MORNING ON THE MOUNTAINS, 



Gradually, as daylight gains strength, the misty 
vapours of morning and the exhalations of the low 
lands disperse and dissolve. The curtain of the scene 
has been rolled up and tied with the broad ribbons of 
glaring daylight. 

Before us, revealed and developed, is the land pro- 
mised to Abraham and his seed for ever. High 
mountains, with their snowy tops sparkling in the 
morning, mark a bold outline against the now intensely 
blue sky ; and above these again, right overhead, is an 
azure firmament, a region of blue, bespangled with 
silvery and fleecy clouds which, in the vast space 
intervening between sea and firmament, look like a 
reservoir of wind and pleasant breezes, kept there 
against the wants of a sultry and parching summer, 
such as we are pretty sure to experience between the 
months of June and September. 

It is with these mountains that we have now more 
particularly to do : the Druses dwell on their summits 
and in their valleys and dells. An isolated people, as 
far as regards faith and doctrines, and all those hopes 
and fears connected with that land imaginatively 
situated beyond yon spangled firmament, they are in 
truth " a beacon upon the top of a mountain and as an 
ensign on an hill;" but of this more anon. 

We come back in thought to contemplate the moun- 
tains: and a vast field of contemplation do they afford. 

Colour and shades are here seen to perfection; angle 
and peak and curve innumerable and unrivalled; as 



nature's incense. 



5 



yet the glory of the sun has not over-topped the higher 
range, nor pried inquisitively into the darker and 
shadier recesses of nook and dell. 

So let it be; under the present aspect there is 
charming variety, as we suffer our eyes to travel 
eagerly over the gorgeous picture. We look with 
reverence and awe at the fathomless abyss intervening 
between heaven and earth, but we remember that even 
so great and infinitely greater is the mercy and com- 
passion of the Great Beneficent. 

With swelling heart and gratitude shining lustrously 
through our eyes, we sweep down towards heaven's 
footstool, and the snow-capped tops and clear blue 
sky have already elicited applause. 

We look lower and lower again, and see a misty 
hazy atmosphere, in which are wonderfully blended the 
richest of rich purples with the deep orange fading into 
the lighter golden hue of the sun's rays. 

That indicates the loftiest and most distant part of 
the Lebanon, where the outriders of Phoebus have 
already arrived, and are shaking into wakefulness the 
sweet wild woodbine, the jessamine, the rose, and 
other wild graces, who have been preparing incense as 
an early offering to the goddess of morning. 

Still lower, and space leaps over yards and miles; 
in the valleys and dells that intervene, obscure mists 
yet sit enthroned till the greater heat of the day shall 
break up their sombre meetings and expel them from 
the fairer regions of the earth. 




6 



CEDARS OF LEBAXOX, 



Here stately trees bow and wave with a rich erratic 
air, acknowledging the mild courtesy of the morning 
breeze as it sweeps pleasantly through their leafy 
boughs. Winter and summer, autumn and spring, 
there they have stood, the same old trees, whispering 
to each other in the silent night-breeze, or roaring out 
wildly when tempest rode by in his hurricane car — roar- 
ing out records of dark deeds often witnessed when worm- 
like men have contended for the usurpation of the 
fairer fields of Palestine, and when, not contented with 
deluging them with their own blood, they have carried 
fire and sword, pestilence and famine into the land. 

The old trees bluster with wrath and indignation as 
they wail over the fate of a stately cedar of only ten 
centuries' growth, ruthlessly hewn down by some 
tyrant or oppressor. Behind these tall trees is a 
pleasant little village, and here also the " ensign on an 
hill" is to be found. 

Still the eye sweeps downwards towards the earth; 
nearer and nearer, clearer and better defined, the 
treasures and the beauties of the earth reveal them- 
selves to our gaze. Sometimes a dark space filled 
with sombre vapours, apparently a yard wide, yet 
occupying many a mile, floats like a misty sea between 
range and range of the Lebanon. Upon these oceans 
the only ships are the vulture, the eagle, and the 
hawk, which float lazily to and fro, guarding with the 
keen eyes of hunger the plains below. 

Palpably bright, against dingy and obscure brown of 



APPROACH TO SIDOIS". 



7 



half-developed hill and half-dissolved vapours, stand 
forth in all the glory of vigorous health, the green mul- 
berry plantations that overtop the lower grassy mounds 
and snow-white minarets. A pleasant hill, green and 
rising rapidly, crowned with an old convent's walls, 
occupies the centre of our picture ; a dark, dark green 
bandage, overtopped with white houses and graceful 
feathery-leaved palms — a sea, girt with a pleasant 
sandy beach — an old bridge with broken arches, ter- 
minating in a battered tower — a few rocks spread with 
fishing nets — a boat or two rolling gently and listlessly 
on the calm serene waters — something white, and blue, 
and red, thronging along the beach. 

The cords squeal through the greaseless blocks— the 
old yards heavily descend upon deck — the anchor, 
heavier still, splashes into the water, — a frightened sea- 
gull flies away to the other end of the bay — and — we 
have arrived at Sidon. 

A small boat, not much bigger than a magnified 
cockle-shell, is launched from our felucca into the sea. 
The reis, or captain, leaves us, to get pratique, or per- 
mission to communicate with the shore. Most of the 
lazy sailors wrap themselves in their meshlahs and lie 
about listlessly upon the decks. You and I will wrap 
ourselves in that old garment called a brown study, and 
then — whv. then we will endeavour to collect and 
compress together all that we have ever heard, or 
known, or read, about this said place Sidon, before we 
trip the anchor again and proceed on to Bey rout. 



8 



ANTIQUITY OF THE CITY. 



In 1289 the last act of barbarity towards unoffend- 
ing Sidon was perpetrated by the Egyptian Mamelukes 
under the order of the then Sultan of Egypt, who, to 
the end that it might no more afford a shelter to or be 
a favourite resort of Christians, caused Sidon to be 
destroyed ; and the pretty gardens and dwelling-houses 
were laid waste by the hands of the ruthless Egyptian 
soldiers, or razed to the ground with fire. Few cities 
lay claim to greater antiquity than Sidon : it is sup- 
posed to have been founded by Sidon, the eldest son of 
Canaan ; and, if this be the case, it is now nigh upon 
four thousand years old. A Phoenician colony after- 
wards existed at Sidon; and after the subversion of 
the Greek empire, Sidon fell into the hands of the 
Romans, who deprived it of its freedom, to punish the 
citizens for their frequent revolts. 

From this date Sidon fell successively under the 
Saracen, Seljukian, Turkish, and Egyptian Sultans, 
till at the date above recorded, five hundred and sixty- 
five years ago, the last act of spoliation was com- 
mitted; and in 1841 Sidon, in common with Syria 
and Palestine, again fell under the sway of the Ottoman 
empire, after having been ruled by Ibraham Pasha for 
a few brief years. 

An occasional tall palm, waving its graceful branches 
to and fro, gives evidence that we have here a warmer 
climate than Laodicea or Antioch; whilst the hand- 
some banana, with its rich cluster of golden fruit, 
bespeaks a mildness and peculiar adaptation of soil for 



CLIMATE. 



9 



this rare exotic which is wholly unknown elsewhere in 
Cilicia, Syria, and Palestine. 

At intervals, peeping through and over the sur- 
rounding foliage, we are favoured with glimpses of the 
neatly whitewashed summer-houses, the retreats of the 
more opulent native families during the summer 
months; and in one open grass plot, fenced in with 
green railings, a remarkable object from the sea, is the 
handsome tomb erected to the memory of some great 
Moslem fanatic who lived and died here scores of years 
gone by. Horsemen in gaily-coloured overcoats are 
galloping about on the sands; weary foot passengers, 
with heavy laden mules or donkeys, plod along on 
their way; children are sporting with the waves, or 
running in reckless pursuit of fugitive crabs: while 
groups of women, clad from head to foot in snow-white 
izars, with closely veiled faces, are congregated under 
some favourite tree or near some favourite well, dis- 
cussing the news of the day. 

All this, in the hot sunshine, looks gay and enliven- 
ing; but what adds much to the beauty of the prospect 
is, that beyond all this amalgamation of animal life, 
nature has framed this enchanting picture with the 
lofty and interminable range of Lebanon mountains — 
dark and sombre-colored down below, gradually verging 
into brighter hues as they rise, and terminating in 
perpetually snow-capped peaks. Above these are a 
few drapery clouds, and then the wide blue canopy of 
heaven. 



10 



THE MODERN TOWN. 



Directly opposite to us is the modern town of Sidon 
■ — if a place can be called modern, parts of whose 
walls and fortifications have been standing through 
centuries — a not only respectable but really substantial 
and pretty -looking town. Some two hundred yards 
from the anchorage is an insulated castle, now in ruins, 
which was, it was said, greatly damaged by the shots 
from the British ships of war in the last expedition. 
This castle communicated with a fortress on the shore 
by means of a permanent bridge, crossing over the sea, 
and sustained upon twelve or fifteen really handsome 
arches; portions of this bridge have also gone to 
decay. Beyond this is the landing-place, and the town 
itself. The town is built partly upon a hill, which 
was once well fortified, and whose summit is crowned 
with a castle now used as a monastery. To the left of 
the town the steep cliffs gradually increase in height 
till they abruptly terminate in a headland, beyond 
which nothing but a vast extent of ocean meets 
the eye. 

Having indulged in this survey from the ship, let 
us land. 

The gates of the cities in Palestine are still the 
favourite resort of the elders. Especially is this the 
case at Sidon, where one or two very superior cafes 
line the entrance, and invite the weary and hot to 
repose and refresh themselves. We land on a rather 
dangerous and slippery flight of steps, up which, how- 
ever, with the assistance of our native boatmen, we 



BEAUTIFUL CARVINGS. 



11 



successfully scramble. The streets of Sidon are like 
the streets of all Oriental towns, but the strange 
practice exists of causing the terraces of the upper 
stories of houses to extend across the street, supported 
on frequent substantial arches, which at the same time 
that they effectually exclude the heat and rain, also 
exclude the light, rendering it irksome and disagreeable 
in the, extreme for uninitiated strangers to traverse the 
town from one quarter to another. Emerging from 
one of these tunnelled thoroughfares, we find ourselves 
unexpectedly opposite the massive and handsome gate- 
way leading into the French khan, which was ori- 
ginally a large caravansary for the accommodation of 
travellers and their beasts of burthen, but which, 
having fallen into the hands of the French government, 
has been converted partly into a consular residence, 
partly to afford a school house, and partly an asylum 
to French or destitute travellers and pilgrims. Within 
the large square enclosed by the walls of this caravan- 
sary, that delicious tropical fruit the banana flourishes 
in the greatest luxuriance. The buildings, which are 
of great antiquity, look as solid and firm as though in 
their pristine condition, and the exquisitely carved 
beams that support the tottering roofs of many of the 
oldest ruins and mosques, give ample testimony to the 
skill and aptness of the Sidonian carver in ages gone 
by. " There is not amongst us any that can skill to 
hew timber like the Sidonians" ( 1 Kings v. 6 . ) Such 
was the tribute rendered to the natives by the wise 



12 



POPULATION AND TRADE. 



King Solomon. The interiors of the houses at Sidon 
are cleanly, and the inhabitants extremely hospitable. 

Sidon is now computed to contain upwards of 
twelve thousand inhabitants, two-thirds of whom 
are Mahometans, the rest Christians and Jews ; the 
Christians being by far the most numerous of the 
two. They still continue to be a very industrial 
people, excelling in the manufacture of silk scarfs 
and gaily-ornamented boshias, a species of wide 
handkerchief bound round the caps of the men, 
partly to protect their heads from the sun, and partly 
for ornament's sake. The trade and commerce of 
Sidon is limited, though affording a vast field for 
speculative industry. Besides a considerable quantity 
of silk grown in the district, Sidon has of late years 
contributed much grain to European markets. The 
anchorage is not very secure for shipping of a large 
tonnage ; nevertheless natural facilities exist for 
creating an excellent and secure harbour, the long 
ledges of rocks which run parallel with the town 
affording a very good base work upon which to found 
and carry out a bulwark against the winds and waves 
of the winter months. Fruit and vegetables are 
abundant and cheap. As we pass along the thickly- 
planted hedges we observe the market gardeners 
busily culling these, and packing them for exportation 
to Beyrout and other parts of the sea-coast. Vast 
quantities of timber hewn in Lebanon are brought to 
Sidon, partly on the backs of camels — partly trained 



SID0X AS IT IS. 



13 



down by yokes of oxen. Climbing up the old monas- 
tery which crowns the central hill and overtops the 
surrounding country, we obtain a fine view of the 
Lay. the town, and the shipping. The sea lies calmly 
refulgent in the daylight. The cool afternoon breeze 
sweeps by on its refreshing errand to the sun-parched 
cliffs of lower Lebanon. Seated on rough stones we 
quench our thirst from the cold pure waters of a 
purling stream, and then we are lost in reverie. This 
is that Sidon whose workmen helped to erect that 
temple which was the glory of its age. Over the 
very ground on which we are seated doubtless timber 
in abundance has passed on its way from the moun- 
tains to the fleet ready to convey it hence to Joppa. 
The mountains are the same — the plain is the same — 
the ocean the same — the dew of the night and the 
pleasant breeze of the evening — these are the same as 
of yore ; only the workmanship of man has decayed. 
Everything in nature remains as in the city's most 
triumphant days. Thousands of dead men mingle 
with the dust below ; their places only remain vacant 
and unreplenishecl. The wild flowers and the fruit, 
the stately tree and the bush, these are as plentiful 
and luxuriant as ever. 

Such is the Sidon of to-day, and if we had fol- 
lowed the course of the breeze till it reached the 
summit of the hills — 'blowing on shore from seaward 
— we should have pretty well defined the limits or 
imaginary bounds of the habitation of the Druses to 



14 



BEYROUT. 



the south-west and westward ; hence they extend as 
far north as the Nahr-el-Kelb in Bey rout, and making 
a circuit inland and over the hills, their villages are 
all compressed into that space occupied between the 
respective latitudes of Beyrout and Sidon, confined 
within one solitary parallel of longitude. 

These two cities may be said to be the sea-port 
towns of the country of the Druses — those people of 
the Lebanon, whose peculiar specialities have severed 
them from familiar intercourse with the several other 
nations surrounding them, and in many instances con- 
jointly constituting the population of some of their 
towns and villages. 

Before entering upon the field of research, or as- 
cending the precipitous sides of the Lebanon, we may 
as well coast on, and visit first that other great 
emporium of Syrian commerce, Beyrout, through 
whose trade with Europe and the Levant, the Druses 
avail themselves of opportunities for their labour and 
industry, and find a ready market for the harvests 
and fruits they reap from their various avocations and 
callings. 

I know no part of the world that I have visited, 
heard described, read of, or seen in pictures, which 
could outrival or surpass the appearance of modern 
Beyrout, from the anchorage, or from the approach to 
the harbour. Even twenty years ago it was reputed 
as occupying a remarkably picturesque position, for 
nature had been lavish in her gifts, and the hills 



ITS PICTURESQUE POSITION. 



15 



were fertile and clothed all the year round in spring 
vesture. 

The sublime beauties of nature have been even 
further developed — rendered still more striking and 
beautiful by the assistance of art. Cosmopolites have 
transferred their homes and families from all parts of 
Europe, and even from distant America, bringing with 
them that peculiar love of comfort, ease, and elegance, 
so peculiarly typical of European nations. As they 
chose upon both a cheap and healthy spot for the site 
of their future homes, they had ample means for 
gratifying their varied tastes and hobbies, the result of 
all which has been the speedy and almost magical 
transformation of an almost deserted village into a 
populated and thickly-set town, interspersed with the 
most delightful villas and gardens. Land was cheap, 
provisions cheap, the soil fertile, the country pro- 
ductive, and the immigrants men who could afford to 
speculate, and bide their time for reaping a result. 
The upshot of all which has been, the modern town of 
Beyrout — the Paris of Syria — the Delhi of commerce — 
the emporium of all the trade with the shores of 
Syria, Palestine, and Cilicia. 

I was born at Beyrout, and therefore my vanity in 
lauding the city of my birth may, I "hope, be a par- 
donable offence. Even St. Paul called his native 
place, Tarsus, a city of no mean repute. "No doubt 
Tarsus was then-a-days a place of considerable im- 
portance, but in the present century it would not 



16 



SUNRISE. 



stand comparison in any one respect with Beyrout ; 
the former has barely any commerce, but few 
Europeans, and possesses, next to Scanderoon, the 
worst reputation for fever and other pernicious mala- 
dies. Besides all this, English travellers have over and 
over again sustained my encomiums upon Beyrout, 
strengthening the link of my affections for that spot ; 
consequently I feel more at ease in dwelling for a brief 
period upon its surpassing charms of scenery; the 
more especially as it is here that we shall first en- 
counter, whilst strolling through the bazaar, specimens, 
male and female, of that bold and solitary people that 
are like a beacon upon the mountain-tops of Lebanon. 

My father's mansion occupies a prominent position 
protruding into the sea, and towering high over steps 
leading to the quay or landing-place. Standing on 
this quay early on a summer's morning, the scenery is 
magnificent. To watch the sun rise from behind the 
snowy tops of Anti-Libanus, whilst the whole earth, 
the grass, the bushes, and the tree- tops glitter and 
sparkle radiantly with dew-drops, as though nature 
had unlocked a casket of brilliants and held them up 
for Phoebus to envy, — this is delightful ; and added 
to this, the balmy breath of morning and the cool 
ripplings of the Mediterranean invite the mind to 
quiet and repose, and tune up the lute of the muses. 
No sooner, however, does the fiery red face of the sun 
protrude itself over the mulberry plantations, than 
the Turkish frigates in the harbour fire off their 



MORNING SCENES. 



17 



morning guns and hoist up their pennants. The white 
smoke curls palpably against the clear blue sky, and 
so speedily evaporates; and with that smoke is dis- 
sipated the romance and quiet of early morning. 
The reality of heat and dust, busy turmoil and strife, 
now speedily wake up for the day ; the already scorch- 
ing rays of the sun warn the European to seek shelter 
within the temporary coffee-houses that line the beach 
side, where, readily supplied with narghiles and coffee, 
and inhaling with additional gusto the fresh breezes of 
morning, he contemplates nature and the picture of 
every-day life in Beyrout. 

Fifty hot men, who have been woke up in a hurry, and 
seem to have been turned out all of a heap with vestiges 
of yesterday's occupation carefully pasted over in a coat- 
ing of sand and wheat dust, rush by us and plunge 
hastily into the cool waters of the sea. These are 
mostly sifters employed at the various warehouses, who 
live in a perpetual state of perspiration and powder, 
the earliest to work, the latest to bed, and whose 
solitary enjoyment of life seems to be this half hour's 
swim in the sea. Plunging and kicking and snorting 
like grampuses, no place but a school or a bedlam 
could rival such a picture of riotous mirth and enjoy- 
ment. Their half hour terminated, however, they 
emerge from the water purified and cooled. An hour 
hence, in the centre of the corn bazar, they may be 
encountered, one and all, hopelessly dusty and hot. 
After these bathers, early boatmen make their appear- 
ed 



18 



BATHERS AjS t D BOATMEX. 



ance, and loosing their respective barks, paddle out 
into the ocean. Some go a-fishing, some are employed 
to carry off the daily supplies requisite for the sturdy 
and hard-working crews of the various vessels in 
harbour, others ply for fares to and fro from the shore ; 
but the proper time to witness the activity of these 
boatmen to perfection is when the bi-monthly mail 
packets and steamers arrive off Beyrout. Then indeed 
they reap a plentiful harvest, from landing or embark- 
ing passengers whom they invariably expose to the 
most extortionate charges. 

Next to the boatmen come the early vendors of 
sweet stuffs, who recommend their commodities to the 
attention of all by a species of chant not unlike the 
too-ral-loo-ral chorus of an English comic song. About 
this time European shops begin to open, and merchants' 
offices are being swept out and sprinkled with water ; 
the heavy portals of the large French cafe, near the 
landing-place, swing heavily upon their hinges, and re- 
veal the portly proprietor with polished head and face, 
smoking an early cigar, and touting for victims. Mon- 
sieur has a very small humble oily voice, with which 
he breathes a universal bonjour ; but his conscience is 
even smaller than bis voice, so small that many of his 
intimate friends have suggested that oftentimes he has 
left it behind him in the pocket of a cast-off waistcoat. 
Be this as it may, his appearance is the signal for 
breakfast anywhere where that commodity can be 
obtained. 



THE MORNING MEAL. 



19 



The next half hour is a blank to the activity of the 
day, a check to the tidal stream of commerce, during 
which brief interval, lord and labourer, master and brute, 
are busy masticating, stringing up nerve and strength 
to resist the burthen and the heat of the day. Cold meat 
and wines, coffee and chocolate, tea, bread, and buscuits, 
cakes, curdled cream, fruit and preserves, these con- 
stitute the early meal of the opulent. The labouring 
class and the poorer are equally relishing their cu- 
cumbers and garlic and onions, with a cold platter of 
burghol from yesterday, and the additional relish of a 
potful of yohurt and a basket or so of fresh apricots. 
Hadji 'Brahim, however, who has no money and no 
friends, and who has been thrown out of work for the 
last six weeks by intermittent fever, finds it difficult, 
even in a country so proverbially cheap as Syria, to 
get the wherewithal to satisfy the cravings of nature. 
But a kind friend lends him the services of a donkey 
for an hour or so in the morning. Flinging himself 
upon the donkey's back, our Hadji scampers off to the 
environs of Beyrout. Here cactuses flourish in the 
wildest abundance and profusion, and here, whilst his 
donkey is quietly browsing upon thistles, the Hadji 
breakfasts sumptuously off prickly pear fruit. JS T or is 
this all : when he has satisfied the cravings of nature, 
and stooped to quench thirst from the purling stream 
close by, he collects a sufficiency in panniers and 
baskets for the supply of the principal markets, from 
whence an easy revenue is derived, which immediately 

c 2 



20 



BOUNTY OF NATURE. 



alleviates all simple wants. Thus bountiful is nature 
in the rich gifts scattered round, thus prolific and 
fruitful the earth, in a region which thousands of years 
ago was emphatically described as "a land of brooks 
of water, fountains, and depths that spring out of 
valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, and 
vines, and fig trees and pomegranates; a land of oil, 
olive, and honey ; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread 
without scarceness." (Deut. viii.) 



21 



CHAPTER II. 

BUSINESS ACTIVITY — PANORAMA OF COSTUMES — NATIVES AND 
FOREIGNERS — A DAUGHTER OF THE DRUSES— ENGLISH MILORDS 
— RAMBLES THROUGH THE STREETS — BAZAARS AND SHOPS — 
SOUVENIRS OF SYRIA — THE HAMMAM — THE FASHIONABLE 
PROMENADE— THE CLOSE OF THE DAY. 

'Tis pleasant, through the loop holes of retreat, 
To peep at such a world ; to see the stir 
Of the great Babel, and not feel the crowd. 

Cowper. 

By ten o'clock every man is at his post again, and 
the business of the day may be said to have fairly 
commenced. European merchants, from their houses 
in the outskirts, make their appearance, followed by 
faithful native seraffs, conversing the while on the 
profit and loss of yesterday's speculation, and uttering 
significant hopes as to the realization of those now in 
hand. The din and the turmoil of business sweeps up 
and down the streets and over house-tops like a noisy 
human hurricane; muscular porters, tottering under the 
weight of ponderous iron bars and bales of Manchester 
goods, scream out notes of warning to those who im- 
pede their progress ; the startling cry, " dahrah /" (or, 



22 



BUSINESS ACTIVITY, 



your back !) imparts amazing agility to the most dig- 
nified strut or the most corpulent bearing; speedily the 
passengers make room for the burthened, and the goods 
are swallowed up in the dark recesses of vast ware- 
houses, only to make room for a fresh shoal of groaning 
porters. 

Meanwhile, in the most central thoroughfare, and 
where the densest crowds are congregated, open corn 
markets are held; clouds of dust half obscure the hot 
labourers measuring out the wheat ; a troop of donkeys 
gallop over the edges of the corn factor's treasures ; a 
long string of camels stalk majestically through the 
crowd, and they have barely disappeared before the 
public auctioneer takes up his position for the day 
under the shadow of a public fountain; idlers and pur- 
chasers quickly cluster around him, piece after piece 
of calico or gaily- coloured prints is unrolled and syste- 
matically flung over the heads of the spectators, so as 
to display without many words or comments the length 
and breadth, colour and quality of the stuff about to 
be sold. " Harag ! harag !" screams out the auc- 
tioneer ; twenty different voices commence the bidding 
for the day ; rapidly, but by small fractions, the pur- 
chase money rises, till at length the auctioneer has 
realized the sum he had predetermined; twenty 
minutes, and his stock of goods has all been rapidly 
disposed of; the heated multitude flock round an 
itinerant vendor of sus or liquorice water, as that 
individual, in all the dignity of office, loudly tinkles 



I 



PANORAMA OF COSTUMES. 23 

Lis brass drinking cups together to attract attention 
to his commodities. 

Besides the stis-vendor, there are many others who 
claim and divide the attention of the thirsty multi- 
tude ; for the wealthier portion there is the honz, or 
perambulating ice-cream manufacturer, who sells his 
small cups of delicate and refreshing mixture for ten 
or twenty paras ; but the really thirsty labourer who 
has been up to his elbows in grain, and whose eyes, 
mouth, and nostrils bear testimony to the overwhelm- 
ing dust, can seldom afford to indulge in either of the 
foregoing luxuries, Notwithstanding this, his thirst is 
equally if not better slaked by a hearty draught of 
pure spring water, such as is sold by yonder group of 
raggainuffin boys, those whose whole stock in trade 
consists of an earthen burdhac, a vessel with a spout 
like a coffee-pot. But as many thirsty souls drink 
from the same vessel, it would be unpalatable were all 
to apply their mouths to the same spout; to avoid 
this the peasant resorts to the not very elegant and 
decidedly difficult operation of pouring the water into 
his mouth by holding the spout high over his head, 
and so catching the stream as it falls. But what shall 
we say as regards the variegated costumes and ap- 
pearance of those who constitute the crowd around 
us ? these are indeed a perfect panorama in them- 
selves. I have not much to say about the peasants 
and the labourers and the poorer class ; their costume 
is scant, their wardrobe constituted of a bundle of 



24 



NATIVES AND FOREIGNERS. 



divers-coloured rags ; but the more striking and pal- 
pable, as in comparison with these, appear the ship- 
masters, the sailors, the tradesmen, the merchants, 
and the travellers of all four corners of the world, 
who are here congregated for the prosecution of their 
respective pursuits. 

In snow-white loose trowsers and blue silk jacket, 
with unexceptionable red cap and slippers, a costly 
shawl girdle, and a jaunty air, the spruce Greek cap- 
tain brushes by the more sedate and the more soberly- 
clad Armenian banker, whose wide black turban and 
loose grey robes are but poor indications of the im- 
mense wealth at his command. But though strangers 
might be misled by this, not so the experienced eye 
of yonder harping Hebrew, whose emaciated features 
and untrimmed beard are in strict accordance with 
his careless and filthy attire, and the sordid avarice 
that reigns within. 

But the Jew gives place to a group of boisterous 
sailors who, set on shore for a day's Liberty, are 
rollicking through the streets in shirts with blue 
facings and stout duck trowsers, uncertain as to when 
and where they are to have their day's carousal. 
Closely-hooded friars, with cunning peeping from 
under their hoods, glide smoothly and noiselessly like 
serpents among the living mass. The spruce Aleppine 
beau, the sprucer Beyrout gallant, saunter into the 
bazaars in search of listless amusement ; busy-looking 
European merchants, in wide-brimmed straw hats, are 



A DAUGHTER OF THE DRUSES. 



25 



conversing earnestly with natives and brokers relative 
to commercial transactions ; ship captains of a dozen 
different nations, followed by sailors and boys laden 
with fruits and provisions, are^ hastening towards 
marina, whilst with less ceremony and about as much 
civility as a bear, the dissipated Turkish soldier elbows 
his way through the multitude, his costume a perfect 
caricature upon the discipline of the army. Mean- 
while, like angels flitting to and fro amongst the 
troubled spirits of the earth, are women of all nations 
and creeds, from the fair western belle, clad in the 
height of Parisian fashion, with parasol and bonnet 
d la mode, to the equally beautiful though darker 
sylph from Damascus, who, closely enveloped in her 
thick white veil, yet displays sufficient beauty peeping 
forth from her loveable eyes to convince one of 
the fact that the sweetest kernels are sometimes con- 
cealed within a rough and unsightly husk. But 
amongst these, only distinguishable in the streets from 
the greater accumulation of dust upon her white izar, 
and adhering to her yellow boots, we recognise the 
daughter of a Druse of the Lebanon • and if testi- 
mony of this fact be wanting, we have it in her 
mother, who follows closely and jealously upon her 
footsteps, bearing on her head the emblem of her 
people, the shorter and peculiar horn worn by the 
Druse females. 

Now a group of English travellers in Newmarket 
costume attract the attention of all and incite the 



26 



ENGLISH MILORDS. 



admiration of countless urchins; the knee-breeches 
and top-boots, the shooting-coats and white felt hat, 
surmounted by gaily- coloured boshea ; these, in addi- 
tion to the sun-burnt and inflamed countenances, at 
once indicate them as the roving sons of Great Britain, 
the milords of the Levant, — those fabulous individuals 
who in the estimation of most Orientals are supposed 
to be possessed of countless wealth, and who conse- 
quently ought and are expected to pay a hundredfold 
for every item they purchase. Their proverbial 
liberality is the endless theme of the Tourgiman or 
dragoman, the day-dream of a native merchant's hopes 
and speculations, and many are the invitations held 
out to these strangers to repose awhile and smoke a 
friendly pipe by the crafty shopkeepers, who hope to 
victimise their purses. But whilst these gentlemen, 
in the full enjoyment of the novelty that surrounds 
them, swagger contentedly through the bazaars, we 
pursue our peaceful investigation. 

Here comes one who, by the singularity of his 
costume, we recognise at once as being a Druse — one 
of those people of the Lebanon, whose theory and 
creed have so long puzzled the inquisitive. Although 
the weather is intensely hot, he persists in wearing his 
gaily-striped abaya, a garment almost too heavy for 
the severest day in winter ; his trowsers are of the 
ordinary blue twill worn by the peasantry, but in 
addition to his tarboosh, he wears the laffe, a small 
turban peculiar to the Druses, differing from those 



RAMBLES THROUGH THE STREETS. 



27 



worn by the Turks in size and mode of donning it, 
and whose prevailing colour is usually a bright red. 
Abou Shein, for so is this Druse called, is an old ac- 
quaintance, with whom we have been long on familiar 
terms of intimacy; he stops to greet us as we pass, 
and before parting prevails upon us to accept his 
invitation to accompany him on a tour amongst the 
Druse villages on the Lebanon; to-morrow we start 
on our tour, meanwhile we may ramble over Beyrout, 
and see what remains to be seen, during so brief a 
sojourn. 

Leaving the spot where the auctioneer was lately 
clamorous and busy, we turn our backs upon the sea, 
and go straight up the Souh-il-Heddedeen, or the 
street of ironsmiths. Here, as might be expected 
from the name, there is not much to excite admiration, 
or invite attention ; first we pass a small shop, great, 
however, in fame amongst the Beyrouteens, as the 
repository of the best Tc dames sold in the place. 
K'dames are a species of split peas, baked and sold 
hot ; no muleteer or donkey-driver or camel-driver 
would ever think of starting on a journey without 
a good pocketful of these to munch en route; no 
small boy, however ragged, but will lay out his whole 
capital of paras in these k'dames; hence the vendor 
derives no small profit, and is driving a thriving trade. 
Further ou we are all in obscurity; streets are vaulted, 
and on either side noisy and indefatigable blacksmiths 
are pursuing their hot trade. As might be expected, 



28 



BAZAARS AND SHOPS. 



the noise and din created by them is immense ; sparks 
fly in all directions, occasionally burning large holes in 
the loose white robes of the elites; here, also, are 
countless detachments of miserable and half-starved 
curs, watching, with famished looks, the proceedings of 
the meat vendors at the further end of the street, so 
that upon the whole we are glad to escape from such a 
combination of evils, even though the change be rather 
dubious, for we have now entered upon the vegetable 
and fish bazaar ; to the right runs the latter, to the 
left the former. 

Crossing over a little to the right, we enter upon a 
main street where tobacco is the principal ingredient 
exposed for sale, but to the right-hand side is a noted 
ice-house, where sherbets and ices are made to per- 
fection ; a huge block of snow, stuck on an iron pole, 
answers as the sign-board, and here, pausing, we watch 
a thirsty traveller partake of a glass of sherbet ; the 
method of preparing which is not exactly in accordance 
with European ideas of cleanliness. Ranged upon 
shelves within the shop are prepared bottles of various 
refreshing mixtures ; one contains lemon juice, another 
the juice of mulberries, a third an extract from raisins, 
and so on, the whole being duly seasoned with sugar. 
When a customer calls for a draught he makes his 
choice and pays his money, the shopkeeper then scrapes 
flakes of snow into the glass, compressing the same 
with the palm of his hand, over this he pours the 
sherbet, and the whole mixture constitutes the drink. 



SOUVENIRS OF SYRIA. 



29 



Just opposite, having slaked his thirst, the traveller 
finds ample resources wherewith to comfort the inner 
man. Hereabouts is one of the best cookshops in 
Beyrout, making a goodly display of various Oriental 
dishes, such as broths, pilaufs, kubbes, sausages made 
of minced meat and rice, mouhshes, and various 
vegetable and meat entrees. 

A narrow and indifferent street leads into the most 
respectable commercial square, in the centre of which 
is a fountain. It is covered in with coarse matting 
to exclude rain and heat ; here, seated tailor fashion, 
are some of the most opulent tradesmen of the city ; 
the goods they sell are chiefly prints, madapolams, 
shirtings, chintzes, etc. Interspersed with these shops 
are the vendors of sherbet and coffee. To our left is 
a long street exclusively occupied by shoemakers ; but 
leaving these we proceed up a street to the right, 
leading into a smaller square, with more tradesmen, 
who have more European commodities for sale. The 
narrow street before us has most charms for the 
stranger whose purse strings are loosened for the 
purchase of souvenirs of Syria ; here we find tar- 
booshes of all qualities and prices, elegantly em- 
broidered tobacco pouches, and those peculiarly beau- 
tiful stuffs, exclusively of Damascus manufacture, 
which are made up into caps, slippers, and reticules, 
and as such sold at exorbitant prices to strangers 
who wish to add to the elegance of a deshabille at 
home. 



30 



THE HAMMAM. 



Entering a large gateway on our right, where a 
solitary soldier mounts guard, we find ourselves in an 
extensive square, or khan, the upper buildings of 
which are arched and occupied as a military barrack, 
whilst the lower compartments are let out as shops. 
Coming out again, we pursue our way up the already- 
mentioned street, taking the first turning to our right, 
when persevering through a number of narrow alleys 
we finally emerge into a decent thoroughfare, whose 
distinguishing mark is a large Hammam, or Turkish 
vapour bath, through the railed windows of which we 
make note en passant of a motley assemblage of 
bathers in the various stages of kef; some have already 
bathed, and enveloped in manifold sheets are lolling 
at their ease on the divans, smoking narghiles and 
drinking coffee; others are only just preparing to 
undergo the ordeal. Leaving the bath and turning 
sharp to the right, we enter upon the most notable 
street in Beyrout ; here, on either side, are lofty 
houses and several European shops, respectively the 
property of Italians, Greeks, Ionians, Maltese, etc., 
whilst further on are the mansions of some of the 
European merchants; beyond these again, a grand 
resort of idlers, is an open cafe, shaded in with mats, 
and liberally besprinkled with little stools, narghiles, 
pipes, and all other requisites of Oriental kef. Erom 
this place, turning to our left, the road leads us to 
the gate which opens upon Has Beyrout, and as by 
this time the whole day has been consumed in our 



THE FASHIONABLE PROMENADE. 



31 



rambles, the hour of fashionable promenade has ar- 
rived ; ladies and gentlemen, whose attire would grace 
Regent Street or the Boulevards, here assemble for air 
and exercise. 

The first object which attracts attention is the new 
European theatre, a perfect novelty and great source 
of amusement to the inhabitants. Walking along the 
cliffs and watching the gambols of the waves, we 
encounter numerous groups, some seated on chairs, 
others promenading, others again showing off their 
skill in horsemanship. At some distance is a noted 
coffee house, opposite to which are some building slips 
from which of late years several fine vessels have been 
launched ; here knots of mercantile men congregate, 
smoke and sip coffee, and converse exclusively of 
commercial affairs. 

Antiquity hunters and the curious find food for 
inquiry and amusement in the ruins a little further on, 
where the remnants of an amphitheatre jut out into 
the sea ; and opposite to it on the high road is some 
mosaic work, the remnant of bygone ages. Beyond 
these is the dilapidated monument raised originally to 
commemorate the untimely end of an officer and some 
of the crew of a British man-of-war, whose boat was 
upset in the surf. The promenade extends about a 
mile further, but we pause here because the hour is 
growing late. Before us rolls in stately grandeur the 
mighty Mediterranean, murmuring as it laves the rocky 
beach a requiem, to the past glory and faded greatness 



32 



THE CLOSE OF THE DAY. 



of the promised land. The sun has dipped his fiery 
orb in the blue bosom of the ocean, and the white 
sails of countless small boats float upon the surface of 
the deep ; all the variegated hues of the rainbow are 
blended in the summer sky, and the land breeze is 
laden with twenty perfumes from the mountains. 

As we reach the point whence we started in the 
morning the day is rapidly closing in ; toil-worn 
labourers, fagged and dusty and hot, plod their weary 
way to their miserable homes, where hunger pours 
incense upon their frugal meals, and Morpheus seals 
their eyelids with refreshing slumber ; the last boat- 
load of tired sailors, who have toiled through the 
oppressive heat of the day, has landed the last batch 
of merchandise, and is returning to their floating 
home, which looms hazily in the distance. Quiet and 
silence assist night in spreading her mantle over the 
town, bright stars peep out from the firmament, the 
languid moon steals over the distant cape, the cafes are 
all illuminated, lights shine forth from the abodes of 
the wealthy, the weary are at rest, the wealthy and 
the civilised in the pursuit of domestic and social 
enjoyment. 



33 



CHAPTER III. 

NIGHT SCENE — "ALL'S WELL!" — THE MUEDDEN CALL— MORNING AT 
A KHAN — NAHR BEYROUT — A MARONITE TILLAGE — THE ASCENT 
OE MAROCCOS — LIME-PITS AT BET-MIRIH — THE USUAL REN- 
DEZVOUS — NATIVE THRESHING FLOORS. 

Thou spirit of the spangled night ! 
I woo thee from the watch-tower high, 
Where thou dost sit to guide the bark 
Of lonely mariner. 

H. K. White. 

In the summer months it is much the practice to 
sleep upon the terraces at Beyrout ; the nights are so 
exceedingly close, and mosquitos so troublesome, that 
it is the only chance of getting a few hours' refreshing 
sleep. Sometimes the night dew is exceedingly heavy, 
but this is guarded against by temporary canopies 
or tents being erected on the terraces. Here, then, 
we are supposed to have been reposing after the 
fatigues of yesterday, and to brace us up for tomor- 
row's exertions, when shortly after midnight we are 
awakened from the profoundest sleep by the cry of 

D 



34 NIGHT SCENE. 

" Tamrie? which cry proceeds from the vendor of a 
species of cake whose component parts are flour, yeast, 
butter, and dibs, the latter being a saccharine ingredient 
extracted from the grape. The oft-repeated and start- 
ling cries of this vendor effectually drive away sleep 
from our eyelids ; so to revenge ourselves upon this noc- 
turnal miscreant we purchase specimens of his goods, 
and then and there devour them, returning a verdict to 
the effect that they are capital. For some unknown 
motive this tamrie is never to be bought or sold ex- 
cepting from after midnight till sunrise, when, all hot 
and smoking, it is eagerly sought after by the greater 
mass of Beyrouteens. 

Thoroughly awakened, yet lolling in our beds, we 
command an extensive and magnificent panorama from 
our elevated position ; the silvery moon glides listlessly 
through the pale and cloudless skies, her light so bril- 
liant that" the smallest objects are distinguishable; the 
breeze has gradually died away in the west, and the 
waves that it chased wildly upon the beach have sunk 
into perfect repose. No mirror could reflect more 
clearly or present more placid a surface than the vast 
sheet of water beneath us. Like dark shadows upon 
the ocean, the distant ships gently rolling to and fro 
rock their inmates in slumber ; inland, the silvery tops 
of the loftier trees and minarets define the upper out- 
lines of the town ; beyond these again, a dark confused 
mass, rise the distant mountains, till gradually, shade 
by shade lighter, they verge imperceptibly into the 



'all's well 1 ' 



35 



azure tint of the canopy above them. All nature is 
hushed into the intensest repose, and not a breath of air 
is stirring. By and by the heavy footstep of the patrol 
echoes through the solitary and deserted streets of the 
town, waking up the watchful curs, who hail their 
advent with discordant veilings mingled with gruff loud 
barking ; the old watchmen who hover about the ma- 
gazines and warehouses, wake up from fitful naps into 
energetic activity : snatches of songs, mixed with 
coughs and imprecations, warn the evil-doers that their 
plans and intentions are frustrated ; whilst like solitary 
owls hooting from their deserted ruins, the coast-guards, 
at interval of every hour, shout out an " All's well !" 
from the various steps and landing places, and having 
done this fall fast asleep again, till habit warns them 
that the hour has come round again. Sometimes a 
drunken Greek, unable to reach home, but who is still 
possessed of vague and languid notions of hilarity, 
chants the melancholy burden of some Athenian love 
song, and then drops off into troubled sleep again. 

By and by the moon-capped branches of the distant 
cypresses are blended with dark shadows as they wave 
gently to and fro. This is an indication of the ap- 
proach of the land breeze, which, laden with early 
incense, sweeps rapidly and meaningly over the town, 
rustling the leaves in its onward flight, and as it gains 
in strength, wailing dolefully through the crevices and 
windows of the old ruined castle in the sea. The wary 
Arab reis in the felucca anchored close to the castle, 

D 2 



36 



THE MUEDDEJ CALL. 



who lias been watching anxiously for the advent of this 
breeze, now wakes up his slumbering crew, and sum- 
mons them to weigh the anchor. But it is no easy job 
to arouse such slumberers ; loudly he bawls and stre- 
nuously he shakes them before the sleepers can be con- 
vinced of the reality of their position ; then heavy 
shadows creep lazily along the white decks of the boats, 
a slight splashing of water ensues as they go through 
their early ablutions, the more thoroughly to waken 
their dormant faculties ; soon echoes reply to the 
cheerful song of the mariners as they lend a hand to 
hoist up the ponderous wooden anchor; like a startled 
bird frightened from its nest, the wings of the little 
boat suddenly expand to the morning breeze, and the 
felucca suddenly takes flight across the expansive 
bosom of the ocean ; ten minutes more, and an indis- 
tinct speck on the horizon assures us how well the 
boat has sped on her voyage. 

A short interval of intensest silence ; then suddenly 
there rises and sweeps over the town the wild but 
musical muedden song from all the lofty minarets, 
waking devout Turks to a sense of duty, and warning 
them that prayer is better than sleep ; the last " Allah 
Akbar" revibrates gently and softly in the most dis- 
tant echo ; falling stars, like beautiful meteors, shoot 
forth from the skies as though tired of watching so 
long for Aurora ; gradually the bright morning planet 
sets beyond the horizon ; the stars in the eastern hemi- 
sphere fade rapidly before the bright rays of morning ; 



MORNING AT A KHAN. 



37 



the moon lias set ; the snows of Anti-Lebanon are 
tipped with gold and roseate hues, and the first light 
of dawn appears in the east. Starting from our couches, 
refreshed and invigorated by the balmy breath of morn- 
ing, we involuntarily are forced to exclaim, with the 
romantic Barbiere, — 

Ecco ridente il cielo, 
Gia spunta la bella aurora . . 
. . . E puoi dormir cosi ? 

Having quoted from one romantic barber, we resort 
to an Oriental reality, who even at this early hour has 
opened the shutters of his shop, and is flourishing his 
razor over the tufted but otherwise bald head of a 
Turkish labourer, who has just submitted to the opera- 
tion of being shaved. Hence we proceed to the Ham- 
mam, where the purifying process thoroughly awakes 
and invigorates us for the day ; this is succeeded by an 
early cup of coffee and may-be a pipe ; then, shoulder- 
ing our saddle-bags, we hie away to the khan, where 
our friend the Druse has proposed to meet us, and here 
taking horse, we start upon our tour. 

At this early hour only the inmates of the khan, 
who are mostly travellers, are awake and bustling 
about ; camels in the act of being loaded, grumble dis- 
cordantly at their burthens ; vicious mules are kicking 
and scrambling for their early corn ; horses are neigh- 
ing, cocks crowing, and numberless dogs barking ; but 
it is only here that this confusion and turmoil exists ; 



38 NAHR BEYROUT. 

the rest of the town is yet wrapped in slumber. The 
iron-shod hoofs of our horses echo through the deserted 
streets as we pass through them, and finally emerge by 
the Bouebat-il-Sarayat, or Palace Gate, into an open 
sandy plain. Here activity already prevails ; the mili- 
tary are being mustered preparatory to their morning 
drill ; squealing fifes, horrible trumpets, and discordant 
drums give evidence of the ineffectual efforts of novices 
in military music. Leaving all these behind us, we 
skirt along the prickly pear hedges which yesterday 
afforded our friend 'Brahim a sumptuous breakfast ; 
by and by, after an hour's ride, and as we approach 
the Nahr Beyrout, we begin to encounter early market 
gardeners who are bringing vegetables and fruit from 
the outskirts and neighbouring villages for the daily 
supply of the town ; most of these trudge along on 
foot, carrying their boots over their shoulders, lest 
these costly and gay articles should be worn out by 
frequent journeys. Each individual pauses to salute 
us as we pass with the usual Salaam aleihum; and 
we as punctually reply, Aleihum il salaam, for of a 
truth the natives are naturally polite. 

We now reach the bridge constructed across the river, 
and here, at this early hour of day, the scenery that 
surrounds us is both invigorating and inspiring ; even 
our friend the Druse, who, like the rest of his brethren, 
has very 'great veneration for the works of creation, 
pauses to admire the scene. Beneath us, the limpid 
stream speeds merrily on its course towards the ocean; 



A MARONITE VILLAGE. 



39 



its banks overhung with thick brushwood and stately 
trees, whence the early carol of numberless feathered 
songsters gives animation to the scene ; water-fowl 
Jart out ever and anon from their thick marshy recesses, 
and as speedily retire on perceiving that they are 
watched; here and there a solitary palm tree rises 
majestically and waves its graceful leaves in the early 
sunlight : the sudden report of fire-arms gives evidence 
of the activity of the European sportsmen, and turning 
round on our saddles, we catch an indistinct glimpse 
of their distant white hats and shooting jackets as they 
scramble through bushes and briars, followed by faithful 
pointers, in pursuit of wounded game. Above us, 
flocks of wild ducks, flying with military precision in 
columns of four or eight, sweep rapidly inland in search 
of some secluded spot where they may be safe from the 
devastating hand of man. Some of these flights are so 
extensive as to be estimated at upwards of a mile in 
length. Fire in amongst them, and their ranks are 
immediately broken, they disperse to the four quarters 
of the heavens, only, however, to re- unite again after a 
few minutes' separation. 

Crossing the bridge we ride along, and finally enter 
upon groves of pine trees. In an open space to the 
right is situated a miserable little Maronite village, 
with a poorly-endowed Christian church. Some yards 
in front of this church stands a solitary mulberry tree, 
from a branch of which is pendant a plate of iron, on 
which the grey-bearded old priest is hammering away 



40 



THE ASCENT OF MAROCCOS. 



with all might and good- will ; this answers the purpose 
of a bell, and the booming sound summonses the scant 
congregation to early matins. After passing the village 
of Tunquane, which has nothing to commend it to our 
attention, and stopping at a spring where horses and 
men drink heartily, we commence the tedious and dan- 
gerous ascent of Maroccos. Round and round, and up 
gigantic rocky steps, our poor tired animals plod 
wearily ; above and below us, in wildest profusion, 
clamber grape vines. By this time the sun's rays are 
growing intensely hot, and the reflexion of the rocky 
surface is terrible, so that both horses and riders are 
grateful to finish the ascent. Reaching an elevation, 
we pause awhile under the pleasant shade of a huge 
Icharroube, or locust tree, whose long black fruit afford 
a pleasant repast to our Druse friend, who, besides feast- 
ing upon them himself, gives handsful to the horses, 
who relish this food amazingly. The aspect around is 
exceedingly limited, being completely shut in by bushes, 
grape vines, fig trees, and wild jessamine, the odour 
from the last being truly delightful. Protruding beyond 
an angle is a corner of the convent, where the monks 
live in strict celibacy, being hospitable in the extreme 
to all male visitors who wish to avail themselves of 
repose or shelter, whilst they are bigoted in excluding 
all females, even though exposed to the most pitiless 
pelting storm of snow or rain ; but these latter may 
find refuge in the church, where they are carefully par- 
titioned off from the men. 



LIME-PITS AT BET-MIRIH. 



41 



Passing through fertile country, rich in vineyards 
and fruit trees, interspersed with beautiful valleys, we 
ride on, surrounded by the intensest silence. Some- 
times, like pleasant music in our solitude, we hearken 
to the distant tinkling of bells proceeding from some 
caravan of mules bound to or from Beyrout ; these are 
mostly occupied in carrying lime from the lime-pits 
at Bet-Mirih down to the sea coast, where the demand 
for this article is very great, owing to the rapidly 
increasing dimensions of Beyrout. 

I may here, by way of parenthesis, remark, for the 
benefit of any who, bound on a similar route, may have 
lost their guides, or missed their way, that an infallible 
indication of the right path to be pursued is the traces 
left by these caravans ; quantities of lime being inva- 
riably jolted out of the sacks it is carried in, and forming 
a white track on the mountains. 

Before reaching Bet-Mirih we come to a celebrated 
kharroube tree, the usual rendezvous of Europeans in 
Beyrout, who frequent these parts during the summer 
months to escape from the excessive heat of the plains. 
A solitary camel, heavily laden with two huge logs of 
timber, is plodding unattended and unwatched over 
the often-passed route with which it has been rendered 
familiar by months and years of toil, whilst its driver, 
seated beneath the shade, is reposing awhile, well aware 
of the faithful nature of his beast. After having slaked 
his thirst from a huge jar of water left here, and every 
morning replenished by benevolent villagers for the 



42 



THE USUAL RENDEZVOUS. 



benefit of wayfarers, he pursues his way. We alight 
from our horses, and throwing the bridles over their 
necks, seat ourselves under the tree and smoke a pipe 
of repose. It is rarely we are left here long alone ; now 
and then a pretty damsel, laden with water from the 
distant ain, passes by with a pleasant smile of welcome ; 
then comes a muleteer, hot and dusty withal, who sits 
down and has a pull at the jar, whilst his mules pursue 
their way. Conversation never flags, for the last arrival 
has always something fresh to say about the weather, 
or the scenery, or the prospects of the crops. The 
clattering of horses' hoofs announces the approach of a 
fresh batch of travellers. Gentlemen and ladies, children 
and nurses, servants and donkey boys, mules laden with 
bedding materials, boxes, and odds and ends, constitute 
this group. This is some merchant or consul and his 
family, who, not having slept a wink for the last week 
or ten days, owing to the heat and mosquitos in Bey- 
rout, have come up for change of air, and to try the 
efficacy of the mountain breezes ; all these are hot and 
tired and dusty, and are glad to avail themselves of the 
temporary shelter afforded by this tree. 

Leaving these to the enjoyment of repose, we remount 
our nags and continue our journey. We pass right 
through the rather insignificant village of Bet-Mirih, 
which, however, affords a capital summer retreat to 
some of the European residents at Beyrout, where some 
of them combine pleasure with business, and occupy 
themselves in purchasing cocoons from the silk growers 



NATIVE THRESHING FLOORS. 



43 



in the neighbourhood. Striking off to the right, we 
proceed towards Deir-il-Kala, ever and anon perceiving, 
en route, the preparations made by the natives against 
the harvest. Choosing out suitable level spots, they 
prepare these for threshing floors by first levelling the 
ground, and then making the surface hard and polished 
by continual wettings and rolling garden stones over 
them ; thus prepared and baked in the sun, they become 
as hard and durable as stone. They are then formed 
into a circle by massive stones being piled around ; this 
done, they are ready to receive the wheat. When the 
harvest has been gathered the husbandmen here collect 
the wheat, and thresh it; the cool breeze as it sweeps 
by sifting the husk from the grain by blowing it away, 
as the grain is tossed in the air with wide wooden pitch- 
forks. 

We have been two hours riding over these mountains 
when we reach the convent at Deir-il-Kala; but before 
arriving we traverse a perfect desolation, heaps upon 
heaps of stones interspersed with thorny briars. What 
fortifications or castles these stones once constituted 
must ever remain a mystery. 



44 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE CONVENT AT DEIR-IL-KALA — PROVISIONS FOR THE WINTER 
— MODE OF MAKING BURGHOL — THE SILKWORM — FIRST STAGE 

of existence — shifting its first skin — second state of 
torpor— the shook — third state of torpor — superstition 
— k'farchima. 

Qui non palazzi, non teatro o loggia, 
Ma'n lor vece un abete, un faggio, un pino 
Tra l'erba verde e'l bel monte vicino, 
Levan di terra al ciel nostr' intelletto. 

Petrarch. 

There never was a better illustration of the above 
quotation than is presented to us as we dismount 
under the shelter of the lofty walls of the convent at 
Deir-il-Kala, and forage in our saddle-bags for some 
materials for breakfast. Everything before us, perhaps 
with the solitary exception of the convent itself, 
speaks clearly of the handiwork of nature, untouched 
or undisfigured by the hand or art of man. Many 
years ago, perhaps centuries, some edifice existed, the 
foundations of which we can still clearly trace ; but 
the ruthless hand of time has levelled this with the 



THE CONVENT AT DEIR-IL-KALA. 



45 



mountain surface, and the fragments and stones have 
been used in the construction of the modern convent. 
From this elevated position, in an atmosphere so 
transcendently clear as that which Syria enjoys, we 
are afforded an extensive and uninterrupted view of 
many miles circuit ; far away, dwindled into nothing- 
ness in the distance, we perceive the small headland, 
behind which is situated the city of Tripoli ; then a 
vast sheet of ocean, clearly defining where the sea 
terminates and where the sky commences, stretches 
across from left to right. On this vast mass of waters, 
large ships, plying to and fro with merchandise and 
passengers, are dimly discernible, like indistinct specks 
upon the deep blue colour of the sea. Nearer still, 
flashing in the golden sunlight like the expanded 
wings of the sea-gull, appear the lateen sails of coast- 
ing vessels ; then in a confused mass, we note the 
spot supposed to mark the site of Beyrout. Clear 
skies of atmosphere intervene, whilst miles of the 
level ground are shut out from our gaze by the tops of 
the trees growing upon the nearer elevation of the 
intervening mountains. The breeze up here is in- 
vigorating and refreshing in the extreme, which, in 
conjunction with the exercise of the morning, is sure 
to add a keen edge to our appetites ; under which 
influence a cold fowl of yesterday, the hard-boiled 
eggs, bread and cheese, etc., diminish in their propor- 
tions. The k'dames in the Druse's pocket have been 
reduced to just half the original quantity. 



46 



PROVISIONS FOR THE WINTER. 



Leaving the convent at Deir-il-Kala, we proceed on 
our journey to the left, and very shortly have evidence 
that we are entering upon that region almost ex- 
clusively inhabited by the Druses. Our road is one 
succession of alternate hill and valley, interspersed at 
intervals of every few miles with small Druse and 
Maronite villages, the inhabitants of most of which 
are at this hour of the day absent on their various 
callings. Some of the females, however, are busy 
upon their house-tops spreading out mats on the 
terraced roofs, and here exposing to the sun the figs 
which have been gathered in and slit open, and which, 
when properly dried, will be put away in earthen jars 
and serve as part and portion of the provision laid by 
for winter use. When these figs are packed into the 
jars, the women get in after every handful, and with 
their naked feet stamp upon them so as to compress 
them in the most compact manner; the more 
effectually to accomplish this, they sprinkle the figs 
at intervals with a treacley substance extracted from 
the kharroube, which saccharine matter helps to con- 
solidate the mass. Many of these huge lumps of figs 
are afterwards exposed for sale in the bazaars at 
Beyrout and Sidon, where the shopkeepers cut large 
slices off with a knife and sell them by weight. But 
the Druse women, at this particular season of the 
year, have other domestic occupations which must be 
all completed before the fine weather passes away. 

First of all, there is the staple commodity of life 



MODE OF MAKING BURGHOL. 



47 



amongst all classes inhabiting Syria, to wit, the 
burghol, a gritty substance made from the wheat ; and 
as we pass along from these villages we encounter, at 
various houses, females in every stage of burghol 
making. First, there is the careful Druse wife washing 
the wheat in a huge cauldron close to her hut door : 
this is the preliminary process. Her neighbour, who 
has been more industrious than herself, has completed 
the washing, and is spreading out the wet grain 
upon mats to dry ; and what with the cats running 
to and fro, and thievish sparrows and equally thievish 
cocks and hens, she has enough to do to keep the 
Philistines away from her wheat, even though assisted 
by all the junior members of the family, who, armed 
with sticks and branches, hoot at and frighten the 
invaders away. In the next village, the drying pro- 
cess has been completed, and the good woman of the 
house is boiling the grain previous to its undergoing 
a second drying and airing ; when this much has been 
done, then the woman shifts the responsibility off 
her shoulders to those of her husband. Early in the 
morning the Druse husband gets up, and lading his 
donkey with sacks containing the boiled wheat, he goes 
off to the nearest mill, where, for a consideration, it 
is ground into two distinct substances, which are 
carefully separated and packed in separate sacks ; the 
larger and coarser grits serving exclusively for the 
manufacture of kubbe, the finer being boiled and 
used as a substitute for rice in pilaufs, etc. 



48 



THE SILKWORM. 



But besides the burgh ol and the figs, the Druse 
housewife has many little but indispensable prepara- 
tions to make against the winter. In the back 
gardens grow chilies and onions and garlic, to say 
nothing of cucumbers and vegetables, The green 
chilies are culled, and being split open, mixed in jars 
with salt and water, being eventually drained and 
covered with vinegar; in the same way, cucumbers, 
walnuts, batinjans, and even radishes, are pickled. 
The red chilies are strung to long pieces of twine and 
suspended from the house top to dry ; the same pro- 
cess is undergone by the onions and garlic, and at 
proper seasons are added walnuts and raisins, olives, 
and many other trifles, indispensable for the comfort 
of the family and for the display of that hospitality 
for which the Druses are notorious. 

Proceeding onwards, and protected from the fierce 
heat of the sun's rays by the pleasant shade of 
mountain pines, we are continually encountering 
horse-loads of cocoons, the fruit of the industry of 
the Druse silk rearer. The whole process, from hatch- 
ing the silkworm eggs till the moment that the worm 
becomes a cocoon, is one series of anxiety and labour 
to the peasant; the worms are so delicate that the 
smallest change of temperature exposes them to 
destruction, and the peasant can never confidently 
count upon reaping a harvest until the cocoon is 
fairly set. 

The spring, which is later by two weeks on these 



FIRST STAGE OF EXISTENCE. 49 

mountains than in the plains below, has barely given 
indication of its approach by breathing softly from the 
south over nature, before the silkworm egg is hatched, 
and the small buds of the mulberry begin to sprout. 
In the first stage of their existence the worms are 
barely bigger than small red ants, which they amazingly 
resemble as hungry thousands of them swarm over the 
tender small leaves of the mulberry. The solitary leaf 
upon which a hundred worms are now feeding, would 
in the course of a month be barely sufficient to afford a 
mouthful to one worm, so large and so rapid is their 
growth. But wherever we look for it, whether on the 
mountain- top or in the plain, whether in the atmo- 
sphere or under the surface of the ocean, on land or on 
sea, we are sure to find convincing proofs of the fore- 
thought and wonderful providence of the Creator. 
Perhaps, however, it is seldom more palpably evident 
to the eyes and understanding of the veriest atheist 
than in the case of the silkworm, a delicate fragile 
creature whose first tender size one ordinary puff of 
wind might scatter to the four winds. At that par- 
ticular season, however, when the egg is suffered to be 
hatched, the warm breath of the south wind fans 
dormant nature into existence, the icy fetters of the 
winter have been burst asunder by the gradually in- 
creasing and congenial heat of the sun. The worm is 
hatched not one hour or one minute before its appointed 
time, which time is in these parts regulated by the 
forwardness, or otherwise, of the mulberry plants; so 

E 



50 



SHIFTING ITS FIRST SKIJT. 



soon, however, as these plants bud, then there is the 
wherewithal to satisfy the cravings of the tender worms, 
and they are called into existence. One week before, 
and they must have perished of starvation, as there is 
no other plant upon which they will subsist; one week 
later, and the mulberry leaf would have grown too 
coarse for their tender digestion; they are both born 
simultaneously, and as the worm thrives and grows 
larger and stronger, so in exact proportion the leaves 
upon the mulberry expand and afford additional nutri- 
ment, so that when the leaf has attained its full growth 
the worm has finished eating, and seeks out among 
briars and thorns a convenient nook for weaving its- 
own tomb. 

During this interval, however, much labour devolves 
upon the peasant and all his family. In the first 
instance, the worms are no sooner hatched than they 
are separated and placed by small lots in different 
flat baskets, well prepared for this purpose, by being 
clayed over and baked in the sun, so that not one 
worm should lose itself. This done, they have to col- 
lect the tender buds of the mulberry three or four 
times a day, and to carefully free these leaves from 
dew or any damp, which would inevitably prove 
destructive to the worm. In the course of a week the 
silkworm shifts its first skin, a process which ordi- 
narily destroys one-third of the original number 
hatched. For twenty -four hours the worms remain 
without nutriment, and during this interval the more 



SECOND STATE OF TORPOR. 



51 



superstitious peasantry suppose that these insects, like 
good Christians, are undergoing a self-imposed fast. 
The peasant's wife, early and late, watches for the first 
indication of the return of animation; no sooner do the 
worms begin to move than fresh leaves are culled and 
placed carefully in the baskets; in less than ten 
minutes these are swarming with such of the worms as 
have survived the process. To separate these from the 
dead, is the peasant's first care, and having provided 
fresh baskets for that purpose, the transfer is easily 
effected by lifting out leaf after leaf of silkworms. 

By this time the insect is full half an inch long, and 
with increasing size its appetite becomes more voracious ; 
the leaf, however, has also considerably increased in 
size, but the peasant is now compelled to mount the 
tree and strip the leaves from off the branches at those 
points where their growth is tenderest. 

The peasant's wife, so soon as the sun is fairly up, 
brings all the baskets out into the open air, and sup- 
plying the worms with leaves, is every morning obliged 
to shift them from basket to basket, so as to throw 
away all the refuse and dirt accumulated from yes- 
terday, which would prove detrimental to the health of 
the worm. In about eight days, and when the worms 
are full an inch and a half long, they again relapse into 
a second torpor, which is of rather longer duration 
than the first; they are now, however, considerably 
stronger, and rid themselves of their skins with greater 
facility and less danger. 

e 2 



52 



THE KHOOK. 



The silkworms have now grown too large, and there 
are too many of them, to admit of their being kept 
any longer in these baskets ; the peasant, however, has 
long since provided against this want. In the khoole, 
(a long narrow room, built of clay and stones, and 
covered in so as to exclude the wet, with several large 
windows, which are filled up with brambles so as to 
admit of a free circulation of air, at the same time that 
they exclude serpents and other reptiles,) the peasant 
has erected several batours, or shelves, composed of 
light cane-work, and which are supported by strong 
poles extending the whole length of the khook ; to 
these shelves the worms are now transferred, and here 
they remain until the cocoon is fairly set. Now, 
however, the peasant's labour has immensely increased ; 
in lieu of stripping the leaves from the branches he is 
compelled to resort to the axe, and lop off branch after 
branch ; these are laden upon donkey-back, and carried 
to the peasant's hut, where the leaves are stripped off 
and given to the worms, whilst the branches are 
thrown aside and heaped up to serve as fuel for the 
winter. 

Any one entering the khooks at this stage of affairs 
would be surprised at the avidity with which the 
worms devour the leaves, producing, in the act of mas- 
tication, a noise similar to the pattering of rain on the 
house-top; only the fibres of the leaf are left, so 
perfectly has the worm dissected it. In about a 
fortnight's time the mulberry plantations are beginning 



THIRD STATE OF TORPOR. 



53 



to look bare and leafless ; whole fields of trees have 
had all their branches lopped off, and there remains 
just a sufficiency to supply the ravenous worms with 
food for the short time they will yet remain before 
constructing the cocoon. 

A third and last state of torpor intervenes, longer 
in duration than the two preceding lethargies. The 
worm has now attained its full growth, and the larger 
and better sort are full two inches and a half long, 
plump and white, with a soft skin, similar to velvet or 
satin. At length their term of existence as worms has 
expired, and not a leaf is anywhere to be seen upon 
the stunted and denuded trees. Suddenly the noise of 
incessant mastication ceases in the khooks, and the 
little silkworm, which has heretofore adhered with 
amazing pertinacity to one spot on the shelves, begins 
to crawl about restlessly in all directions, and give 
unmistakeable indications of its inclination to weave 
its cocoon. The peasant has provided against this 
emergency by two days' hard labour amongst the 
brushwood and briars growing wild on the mountains; 
donkey-loads of this have been piled up at the khook 
door, and these are now carefully spread over the 
shelves; with remarkable instinct, the worms imme- 
diately take to them, and as quickly choosing out their 
respective positions, commence operations. Imme- 
diately the silkworm begins its cocoon, its whole nature 
and substance seem to undergo a remarkable change; 
in lieu of the plump white firm creature of yes- 



54 



SUPERSTITION. 



terday, we now see a transparent and golden-coloured 
worm. 

The peasant, however, is unwilling to permit of our 
remaining and watching operations. Traditional super- 
stition has inculcated in him a dread of the evil eye; 
if we stop and admire the wisdom displayed by the 
worm, it will, in his opinion, be productive of evil 
results : either the cocoon will be badly formed, or the 
silk will be worthless ; so, first clearing the place of all 
intruders, he puts a huge padlock on the door, and 
locking the khook, deposits the key in his zinnar or 
waistband. Next week he will come and take out the 
cocoons, and separating these from the briars, choose 
out a sufficiency for breeding purposes, and all the rest 
are handed over to the women of his family. These 
first of all disentangle the cocoon from the rich and 
fibrous web with which it is enveloped, and which con- 
stitutes an article of trade by itself. The cocoon is 
then either reeled off by the peasant himself or else 
sold to some of the silk factories in the neighbourhood, 
where they are either immediately reeled off or else 
suffocated in an oven, and afterwards, being well aired 
and dried, piled up in the magazines of the factory. 

Such is a brief account, or history, of these cocoons, 
of which we are continually encountering horse-load 
after horse-load. As you will perceive, unless suffering 
from a severe cold in the head, the odour arising from 
these cocoons is not the most agreeable ; but this arises 
partly from the neglect and want of care of the peasants 



K FARCHIMA. 



55 



themselves, who reeling off basket full after basket full 
of cocoons., suffer the dead insects within to be thrown 
about and accumulate round the house, where they 
putrefy, and emit noxious vapours. Thus encountering, 
alternately, villages, and men and women, and cattle 
laden with the fruits of their labour, we pass on through 
the beautiful and fertile country of these secluded 
people, till the afternoon finds us entering upon the 
more level country where is situated one of the prin- 
cipal mountain villages. It is here that our Druse 
friend resides, and as he is very pressing in his invita- 
tion for us to stay a day or so with him and see what 
Druse life is amongst the Druses, we accept his hospi- 
tality, and alight at his door in the village of K'farchima. 



56 



CHAPTER V. 

k'fARCHIMA— OIL MILL— OLIVE GROVES — ANCIENT CUSTOMS— MORAL 
CHARACTERISTICS — THE PALACE OF THE EMIR — THE RECEPTION 
HALL— DESCRIPTION OF THE INTERIOR — CEREMONIOUS RECEPTION 
THE EMIR'S DAUGHTERS — OUR HOST. 

So pass'd they on 
O'er Juda's hills, and whereso'er the leaves 
Of the broad sycamore made sounds at noon, 
Like lulling raindrops. 

Mrs. Hemans. 

K'farchima is one of the most considerable villages 
situated on the Lebanon, comprising between three and 
four hundred houses and huts, of all sizes and descrip- 
tions of architecture, and inhabited chiefly by Druses 
and Maronites. Yery few of the habitations are mixed, 
the Druses, who are the most numerous, occupying a 
distinct quarter of the village to that inhabited by the 
Maronites. Our Druse friend holds a middling rank 
amongst the villagers, and his house is neither a palace 
nor yet an hovel ; but of this, more anon. Before enter- 
ing in and partaking of his hospitality, we descend 
from our horses, and leaving them to the humane care 



OIL MILL. 



57 



of the Druse's wife, we stroll on and take a survey of 
the village and the surrounding scenery. Climbing up 
the little hill whose summit is occupied by the palace 
of the Emir M'rad, and standing here, we get a bird's- 
eye view of the whole village. Before us is the moun- 
tain Deir-il-Karkafe, up to whose very summit pine 
trees grow in the utmost luxuriance ; between this hill 
and where we stand is a verdant valley, with several 
large rough stone buildings which serve as pens for the 
goats and poultry at night, and which defy the thievish 
propensities of the jackals and foxes so numerous in this 
neighbourhood. 

Further to the right is a considerable oil-mill, now 
in full play ; a fine spring of water falling from reser- 
voir to reservoir, finally gushes under the archway of 
this mill, and in passing, turns the wheel which sets 
the whole machinery in operation ; on the other side 
the water gushes out a perpetual foaming cataract, 
roaring and bounding from embankment to embank- 
ment till the whole air around resounds with the voice 
of many waters. Here the villagers at the season of 
the olive harvest repair with their mule-loads of freshly- 
culled olives, which are immediately carried into the 
mill and converted into oil ; the stones and the rem- 
nants, like witnesses to the activity of the miller, are 
heaped up in small hillocks all around the building, 
whilst with Oriental lassitude, and full well certain of 
the excellence of his machinery, the old millerliimself 
occasionally emerges from the hot and stifling atmo- 



58 



OLIVE GROVES, 



sphere of the mill to take a few whiffs of his much- 
loved pipe, under the shade of the solitary mulberry 
which overhangs the foaming cataract. To the right, 
again, remarkable only from its barren aspect in com- 
parison with all that surrounds it, stands a solitary hill, 
thickly grown over with brushwood, up whose sides 
grape vines have been carefully trained, creeping from 
stunted fig tree to fig tree, yet in autumn rich in clus- 
ters of golden fruit that hang refulgent in the sunlight. 

Palpable objects against the dingy ground-work of 
this hill are flocks of many-coloured goats, chewing the 
cud of contentment, and patiently waiting for the sum- 
mons of their shepherd when he comes to guide them 
at sunset to the margin of some peaceful stream, whence, 
having slaked their thirst, they are driven to the pens 
and folds already indicated. To the left, and imme- 
diately under us, are the houses and gardens of the 
village itself ; beyond this, again, a vast table-land, 
gradually undulating and thickly covered with the most 
luxuriant olive groves, above whose comparatively 
stunted growth taller palm trees here and there rear 
their exalted heads, like so many careful watchmen, 
left there to guard the olives against all invaders. At the 
present moment of gazing, the cool sea breeze is rustling 
mightily amongst the branches of the olives, scattering 
the dry leaves and twigs and spreading the surface of 
the earth with the golden-tinged mantle of autumn ; but 
all this is nothing to the rustling and havoc that will 
ensue amongst those branches when the harvest season 



ANCIENT CUSTOMS. 



59 



for olives shall have arrived ; then men and boys will 
be perched upon every available branch, shaking the 
very existence out of the trees in their endeavours to 
gather in as abundant an harvest as possible, whilst the 
women and girls, with out-spread mats, expanded 
aprons, and plentiful baskets, catch and collect the 
showering olives as they fall; and finally gathering 
these into the baskets, assort them for the various pur- 
poses they are intended to serve : some are preserved 
in salt and water, the rest are converted into oil. 

But it is a remarkable fact, and one which proves the 
very ancient standing of the habits and customs of 
these people, that when a man has once descended from 
a tree, having shaken off as much fruit as his strength 
permitted, he will upon no consideration shake that 
tree again, however much fruit may have tenaciously 
adhered to the boughs. "What is left is considered as 
the portion of the poor and the gleaner : in this 
instance, the Druses, in common with all classes inha- 
biting Syria, act in strict accordance with the law 
contained in Deuteronomy, 24th chapter and 20 th 
verse : " When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt 
not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the 
stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow." How- 
ever much in form, and even in theory, the religion of 
the different sects may have deviated and degenerated 
from the purer law of those people to whom these very 
mountains were only a portion of the promised land, 
they invariably retain some unmistakeable proofs of the 



60 



MORAL CHARACTERISTICS. 



spring or fountain-head from which they derived their 
notions; crudely and barbarously as that and all other 
sections or fragments of that law may have been treated. 
The same forbearance in favour of the destitute and 
oppressed which is observed in gathering in the olive 
harvest, is also rigidly adhered to in almost every other 
source of labour which is connected with reaping the 
produce of the earth. In wheat and grain, the peasant 
will barely turn back to pick up a fallen sheaf if a poor 
gleaner be gleaning in his track, and a very fair portion 
is usually left upon the field to be divided between the 
poor, and the still more industrious birds of the air ; 
this is also the case with the grape harvest, the fig 
harvest, and, in short, the season of reaping all fruits 
and grains. The landowner would sleep with but an 
heavy conscience and become an object for the finger of 
scorn to point at, did he not leave a willing disme for 
the benefit of the destitute and houseless. Moreover, 
with very rare exceptions, oxen or mules are seldom if 
ever muzzled when treading out the corn ; nor will they, 
when they have any possible means of avoiding it, yoke 
together beasts of unequal strength to bear the same 
burden ; you seldom meet in Syria with an ox and a 
mule yoked to the same plough. 

We now proceed to enter the palace of the Emir, 
having first of all sent him word of our intention. 
Of the palace or its entrance gate there is not much 
to be recorded; in any other large town of Syria, 
an ordinary caravansary might rival it in beauty of 



THE PALACE OF THE EMIR. 



61 



architecture and surpass it in strength : fur this village, 
however, it is a prominent and remarkable edifice? 
fitted to be the habitation of a chief. On entering, 
we first come into an extensive yard paved with 
pebbles and kept in decent order by frequent sweep- 
ings ; to our right, on entering, is the Emir's reception 
hall, remarkable only for the manifold purposes which 
it is made to serve ; for it is the dining-room of the 
family, the bed-room of the servants and occasional 
distinguished guests, and sometimes affords shelter 
to one or more of the Emir's favourite mares. Here, 
seated on a divan, is the Emir himself, who rises 
politely and advances to receive us at the entrance : 
we ourselves enter, but our friend, the Druse, who has 
left his shoes outside the door, squats himself down 
in the yard and keeps at a respectful distance. The 
Emir is a fine-looking man, yet in the prime of life, 
and his manners are extremely courteous ; his dress 
only differs from that of the ordinary class of natives 
inasmuch as that he sports an additional meshlah, 
or red cloth cloak. His stockings have not yet been 
woven, and his slippers are carefully deposited on the 
extreme edge of the fine turcoman carpet which runs 
along the divan. 

Being seated, we undergo the usual ceremonial so 
indispensable with Oriental etiquette, of salaaming 
to each other and inquiring affectionately after the 
health of ourselves, our kindred, and our household. 
After this we have time to make a rapid survey of 



62 



THE RECEPTION HALL. 



the room and its contents. The room itself is about 
thirty feet square by about fifteen in height, and is 
entirely lined with pine planks, painted and variegated 
in a grotesque style ; round three sides of it, at about 
a yard from the ceiling, runs a wooden shelf, upon 
which are displayed the hardware and plate belonging 
to the family, and consisting of several ordinary 
bowls, a dessert plate or two of the common blue 
pattern, with the bridge and fisherman and the birds 
fighting in the air ; besides these, there are some 
larger plates, an old tumbler or two, half a dozen 
bottles corked with rags, dusty tin boxes full of 
mysterious medicinal herbs, three or four narghiles, a 
brave display of trays, a heap of unprepared tumbac, 
besides several small finjans and time-worn coffee pots. 
If you were to ask me when these shelves were last 
dusted, I should be plunged into endless difficulty, for 
the problem is more than I or any man on the 
mountains can solve. The corners of the ceiling are 
enclosed in a careful network of cobwebs, and the 
ceiling itself elegantly variegated with the smoke from 
countless tobacco pipes and narghiles. 

Under the shelves the walls are variously decorated. 
In one place, conspicuous to the English stranger, is 
pasted against the wall the invariable vignette of 
London, torn from the first page of one of the earliest 
numbers of the Illustrated London News, which the 
Emir treasures as the costly souvenir of some great 
English milord who travelled in these mountains 



DESCRIPTION OF THE INTERIOR. 



63 



many years gone by, and which, in all probability, had 
been used by the milords servant to wrap a cold 
fowl or a remnant of cheese. However this may be, 
after the milord had left, the precious remnant was 
picked up in the yard and treasured as a picture of 
rare and intrinsic merit. From hooks and nails are 
pendant swords, yataghans, pistols, and muskets ; and 
in the way of drapery, we have the Emir's state cloak, 
one or two coils of turbans, and a gaily-embroidered 
jacket, the property of Mrs. Emir, or one of the 
daughters, and which is only donned on high-days 
and holidays. In two corners are open recesses or 
cupboards with trellis-work doors, inside of which, 
carefully covered over with napkins, are small saucers 
with conserves of roses, orange - flower, and violet, 
besides some half dozen diminutive little wine glasses, 
and a couple of long-spouted gilt and gaily-ornamented 
glass decanters which are sometimes filled with rose 
water, but most usually with raki of the superfine 
quality. 

The divan is covered with ordinary furniture — • 
chintz of a large gaudy pattern — and all the pillows 
are the same. At the further end, near the entrance 
door, stands a large mangel, or brazier, which is used 
in winter to warm the apartment, but which now only 
serves for supplying pipes and narghiles with live 
coals. Opposite to this mangel stands a dwarf stool of 
rare and antique workmanship, inlaid with a very 
pretty mosaic work of ivory and mother-of-pearl ; no 



64 



CEREMONIOUS RECEPTION. 



one but a cat would ever think of sitting upon this, as it 
is only used as a substitute for a dining table, and that 
only upon state occasions. By the time that we have 
completed this brief survey, the servants of the Emir 
have been thoroughly aroused from their afternoon 
siesta and are now busy serving the guests ; one 
fellow, with naked feet, walks a tip-toe over the 
patterns of the carpet, and stepping upon the divan 
dislodges a couple of narghiles, and carries them off to 
be duly prepared ; another has taken away the heap 
of tumbac, whilst a third has possessed himself of all 
the finjans and a coffee pot. Very quickly the 
narghiles have been prepared and are presented to us 
with ail the grace of Oriental etiquette ; no dancing 
master in Paris could execute a more graceful pirouette 
than does the lad who presents us with the snake of 
the narghile. We smoke, and the emir talks upon a 
hundred different topics ; the weather, the crops, our 
journey, and many other trilling incidents are duly 
discussed. By this time the coffee has been boiled, 
and one servant bearing the tray with the finjans, 
another carrying the coffee, present themselves, and 
we are served. As we return the empty cups, after 
having swallowed their hot and bitter contents, we 
turn ourselves half round towards the Emir, and 
raising the right hand to the forehead, acknowledge 
his civility by this dumb show. A few seconds after- 
wards another servant comes and rummages in the 
dingy recesses of the cupboards, whence are extracted 



THE EMIR'S DAUGHTERS. 



65 



the conserves and the raid before alluded to, and 
having tasted and drank of these, and duly wiped our 
mouths upon the scented Turkey towels, which are 
miniatures of those ordinarily met with in barber's 
shops, only that they are as white as snow and cleanly 
withal, our visit is at an end. 

The Emir tells us, with many regrets and much 
etiquette, that his wife and daughters, who are the 
rosebuds of this dreary wilderness, have been compelled 
to absent themselves to assist at the nuptials of some 
distant relation in one of the neighbouring villages, 
otherwise they would have had the honour, and we the 
extreme gratification of being waited on and amused by 
the converse sweet of these ladies, to say nothing to ex- 
periencing a perfect shower of rose water sprinkled from 
blue and gilt bottles, with narrow tapering necks, by 
the delicate but henni-dyed hands of the ladies them- 
selves. 

We tell the Emir that we are the losers by this 
mishap, and so we are if any faith can be placed in 
report, for the Emir's daughters are reputed to be very 
doves of beauty and elegance, with eyes mild as the 
summer moonbeam, beautifully- painted eyebrows, lips 
that might be made perfect reservoirs of nectar by 
any ordinary poet, and jet black tresses which are 
said to sweep the floor as these beautiful sylphs tread 
like fairies upon the carpet, their naked feet rivalling 
in brilliancy of colour (being carefully dyed over- 
night twice a week,) the very carpet they tread upon. 

F 



66 OUR HOST. 

Such are these fair damsels reputed to be. Alas ! 
the fates have not decreed that we should bask in the 
sunshine of their smiles; and this being the case, and 
our host himself looking rather hungry, we make a 
low salaam to the Emir, and accompany the Druse 
to his own house. 



67 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE EUROPEAN HAT — INTERIOR OF THE DRUSE'S HOUSE — PREPARA- 
TIONS FOR SUPPER — THE DESSERT — ABOU SHEIN'S HISTORY — 
THE FRIENDLESS LAD — LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT — EARLY OBSTACLES 
— THE BLIND OLD BEGGAR — A " GIN " — PRISON-BREAKING — 
THE ESCAPE— BEGINNING OF TROUBLES — THE CONSCRIPTION — 
TURKISH SOLDIERS — NEW HOPES AWAKENED — SUCCESSFUL 
EFFORTS— THE TANTOUR — DRUSE OPULENCE — A STERN FATHER 
THE RETURN HOME — DRUSE PHILOSOPHY. 

Kinder than polish'd slaves, though not so bland, 

They piled the hearth, 

And fill'd the bowl and trimm'd the cheerful lamp, 
And spread their fare ; though homely, all they had. 

Childe Harold. 

Our Druse's house is a strong, square, but unshapely 
building, erected upon a solid foundation, and built 
of solid materials ; hard square stones, with roughly- 
finished doors and windows, and a terraced roof sup- 
ported upon unplaned pine trees, and composed of 
branches, briars, odds and ends of planks, etc., over 
which is a heavy pile of earth, well rolled in and 
covered over with mortar ; in the centre of the roof is 
a smoke hole, a species of original chimney, made of 
two loose stones covered over with a third. In many 
houses the grass grows luxuriantly over the ledges. 

f 2 



68 THE EUROPEAN HAT. 

In front of the house is an even piece of ground, 
prepared and hardened, kept clean and pure by frequent 
sprinklings of water and sweepings, where the family 
usually congregate in the cool of the evening, and 
the master sits and smokes his pipe, whilst his wife 
and children listen to each others' tales, or else amuse 
themselves in harmless gambols. 

At all seasons of the year a remarkable feature 
in connection with these houses is to be seen, — the 
hand-mill so often alluded to in Holy Writ ; here the 
women of the family busy themselves in grinding 
grain, red chilies, and other substances used in a 
pulverized condition for culinary purposes. 

At the moment that we reach our host's house 
his family are congregated in this front yard, and they 
rise to welcome us with innate hospitality. To the 
children, ourselves and costume are especially a source 
of inquisitive amusement, — the European hat, in par- 
ticular, forming a theme of some hours' conversation. 
They do not, however, in our days evince such spleen 
towards Europeans and their hats, as seems to have 
been the case when the late Mr. Burkhardt visited these 
mountains, for he says, that the greatest insult one 
Druse can offer to another is to express a wish that 
" God may put a hat upon him"'' The colonisation 
of Beyrout by Europeans, and their frequent intercourse 
with the Druses, may, in some measure, account for the 
abolition of this absurd malediction. 

Now-a-days the Druse children, as well as the Druses 



INTERIOR OF THE DRUSE'S HOUSE. 



69 



themselves, may offer a harmless insult to that much- 
respected portion of European costume by comparing 
it to a cooking pot; but I have often seen them divest 
themselves of their turbans for the sake of donning my 
hat, and having a hearty laugh at the grotesque figure 
they cut in it. 

After admiring the rosy and healthy appearance of 
the children, whose cheeks and lips speak volumes as 
to the salubrity of the climate, we enter into the house. 

The whole of the interior is divided into four com- 
partments by means of rude mats; of these, the largest 
is the sitting room, where we enter and seat ourselves 
upon a dingy divan in the further corner; of the other 
three compartments, one serves as a warehouse for 
necessary household provisions, another as a dormitory 
for the Druse's daughter and his other children, whilst 
the third serves as a sleeping room for the Druse, 
his wife, and ourselves. 

Here, as is the case in several parts of Ireland, donkeys 
and cattle occasionally share the shelter of the same roof. 

At present, however, the sitting-room is occupied 
exclusively by ourselves and the Druse's family, and 
whilst we are served with pipes, the wife and the 
daughter busy themselves in preparations for the 
evening repast. In the centre of the room is a species 
of primitive oven, in which all the bread of the family 
is baked ; it consists of a hole dug in the earth and then 
carefully plastered, in which a wood-fire is lit, the hot 
embers of which having heated the whole to a proper 



70 



PREPARATIONS FOR SUPPER. 



pitch are swept into the centre, when the woman who 
has been kneading the flour rolls it out into long oval 
sheets of the consistency of an ordinary sheet of 
brown paper; these are then placed or stretched over 
the hot orifice of the oven, and the wet dough being 
cemented to the edges, the heat within bakes the 
bread with inconceivable rapidity. This, when hot 
and crisp, is really a capital substitute for the real 
article. 

Whilst the bread has been baking in the room 
under our very noses, preparations have been going 
on out of doors for the more substantial ingredients 
which are to constitute our supper ; and the whole 
material, table, plates, wooden spoons, and supper, are 
carried in bodily and placed before us. The table 
itself is of circular form, not more than six inches in 
height, so that as we sit cross-legged on the low divan 
we can easily dip into the various dishes set before us, 
although, from the uninitiated, it requires some degree 
of skill to prevent tilting over and falling nose foremost 
into the smoking pilauf. We are supposed to be too 
hungry to stop and enumerate the dishes as we taste 
of them, the reader must therefore be content with a 
general idea of their component parts. 

Rice and meat and stewed vegetables, with curdled 
milk, are the leading features. There is only one dish 
of peculiarly Druse origin; this is wheat boiled with 
sugar and milk, or sugar and water, constituting, as 
I can say by experience, a very palatable dish. During 



THE DESSERT. 



71 



our repast the ladies of the family can by no 
argument of ours be induced to sit and eat with us; they 
therefore content themselves with serving the master 
of the house and his guests, and by fetching water 
whenever that beverage is called for. 

Meanwhile the children, who are looking on in hungry 
expectation, receive occasional tokens of affection from 
their father in the shape of half-picked bones, which, 
having entirely divested of meat, they, in their turn, 
very liberally bestow upon a favourite cat, so that 
by the time supper is ended the whole floor is strewed 
with fragments and odds and ends. 

Without removing any of the dishes of the first 
course, these are piled together, and room is made for 
the dessert, which consists of all the fruits that may 
chance to be in season, or, in their absence, of dried 
figs, walnuts, pistacheos, and sundry sweetmeats, pro- 
minent amongst which latter is the halewe, composed 
chiefly of flour and the juice extracted from the khar- 
roube. The table now disappears as it came, and being- 
deposited in the yard in front of the door, the women 
and children immediately make an onslaught upon the 
remnants. Meanwhile the floor is swept up, pipes and 
coffee are introduced, and lolling back on the divan we 
make kef. 

There is not much that comes within the grasp of 
our visual survey which can afford a pleasant theme 
for cogitation ; the walls and the roof itself are dusky 
and dingy, and the only furniture consists in unshapely 



72 



ABOU SHEIN'S HISTORY. 



baskets and boxes, heaps of mattresses, and festoons 
of onions, garlic, and chilies, which latter do not add 
much to the purity of the atmosphere within doors. 

Having come to this conclusion, we propose an 
adjournment to the open air, where, supplied with 
cushions and carpets, we inhale the delightful breeze 
of the mountains, and watch the darker shadows of 
evening as they fall upon the scenery around us. 
The women busy themselves in-doors spreading out the 
mattresses and making up the beds necessary for 
the repose of the family and the guests. The children, 
who usually go to rest with the cocks and hens soon 
after sunset, have exhausted their curiosity, and hav- 
ing eaten almost to repletion, are soon wrapped in the 
arms of Morpheus. 

The solitary old lamp, in a niche, is lighted and 
burns dimly inside, when our Druse, shaking out the 
ashes from his empty pipe and replenishing it from 
his tobacco pouch, volunteers to tell us his own history, 
which, having been tinged with romance, is here 
retailed for the benefit of the reader. 

If it has nothing amusing in itself, it at least possesses 
the merit of proving, beyond contradiction, that wild 
and demi-civilised though they be, their ties and links 
of affection are as firmly riveted as those of a people 
possessing superior attributes. Even Saint Preux and 
Julie never gave stronger evidence of the congenial 
warmth of affection than did this Druse in his early 
love affairs. 



THE FRIENDLESS LAD. 73 

" When I was quite a young man," commences our 
host, " having barely seen eighteen summers, and when 
I was possessed of nothing in the world save an old 
abaya and a strong pair of boots — Allah be praised for 
his subsequent mercies to me! — I happened to be coming 
from Beyrout one day, weary and exhausted from the 
heat, when, arriving at yonder kharroube tree, I sat 
down to repose awhile and wipe the heavy heat-drops 
away from my brow. Thirsty and weary as I was, I 
longed for some kind ministering angel to come and 
pour a drop of pure spring water into my parched 
mouth. It is true that there was a spring not twenty 
yards from where I sat, yet so great was my lassitude 
that I could not muster sufficient energy to creep 
thither and slake my thirst. 

" Allah Kerim! said I; some of the women of the vil- 
lage will by and by be passing with their pitchers, and 
then I shall crave from them a supply. I had hardly 
come to this conclusion when a very pretty damsel, 
the daughter of a Druse inhabiting this village, tripped 
lightly by and filled the pitcher at the neighbouring 
spring. As she repassed, perceiving a stranger watching 
her, she modestly drew her veil across her face, not 
however before I had been secretly and earnestly gazing 
upon its beauty ; and oh! how beautiful I thought 
she looked at that moment. 

" I was a poor lad without friends and nearly without 
subsistence, yet somehow or other something seemed 
to whisper to me that if I only made a good bold 



74 



LOVE AX FIRST SIGHT. 



attempt, I could marry that girl, and afterwards settle 
down comfortably for life. Quick as thought I rose 
up from my sitting posture, and following, implored her 
for the love of heaven to let me drink from the 
pitcher she carried. The girl stopped as though sur- 
prised and offended at the request, and pointing to the 
spring intimated that there was abundance of what I 
asked for there. Most true, beautiful damsel, I 
replied, but that is all simple insipid water, whereas 
the light of your smile has imparted honey to the 
flavour of that in yonder pitcher. 

" The young girl, smiling at the flowery rhetoric of 
her admirer, could no longer refuse, but lowering the jar 
from her shoulder allowed me to quaff deeply of its 
contents, meanwhile the veil had fallen aside from 
her face and she stood then revealed a perfect sylph 
of beauty ; I told her as much at the time, — nay, I 
told her much more; for I said that I was young and 
willing, and strong and hearty, and I flattered 
myself, not very bad looking; moreover, that it was 
my determination, if she only would grant her consent, 
to make her my bride before the moon was a month 
older. 

" Somehow or other she seemed rather to enter into 
the wild schemes of my imagination; then and there 
we secretly plighted our troths to each other, and 
agreed at certain periods to make that spot our ren- 
dezvous until time and opportunity should occur for 
the realisation of our daydream of happiness. 



EARLY OBSTACLES. 



75 



" Soon afterwards, having borrowed a second-hand 
suit of clothes from a neighbour, and put on as bold 
and independent an aspect as possible, I called upon 
the father and mother of the girl and made my pro- 
posals of marriage. A very proud, haughty man was 
the father, and he only heaped insults upon my late 
parent's beard by calling me the impudent son of a 
spendthrift, and scion of a worthless stock, whose 
whole connections could not muster together fifty 
piastres for the expenses of our wedding. I told 
him very meekly in reply, that it was true that I had 
only ashreen musrie, about three farthings sterling, in 
my pocket, but then I had health and strength and 
good-will in my favour, and il hamd'l Allah, there 
was plenty of occupation for active hands on the 
mountains. 

"All my arguments were of no avail; the father 
only grew more furious, and the mother threatened to 
throw her beboug at me. Just at this critical moment 
the daughter happened to come in, and, seeing my dis- 
comfiture, burst into tears. I then told the parents 
that it was no use their putting obstacles in the way, 
as the daughter and I had already plighted our troths; 
and that when a woman has made up her mind to do 
anything, no physical force can hinder her. 

u That very night the girl was sent away to Brum- 
mana, another village, to be strictly guarded by some 
relatives until the father should force her to marry 
a wealthy old sheik who had previously set his heart 



76 



THE BLIND OLD BEGGAR. 



upon the girl. For two whole weeks I had no intima- 
tion of her whereabouts; fasting and miserable, and 
with barely any rest at night, I prowled about the 
neighbourhood in desperate uncertainty as to what 
had become of the girl, or whether even she had not 
proved faithless to me and been frightened into sub- 
mission by her parents. 

" At length, when verging upon despair and insanity, 
I went one day to the hut of the blind old beggar 
who lives on the high road at the foot of Deir-il- 
Karkafe. Though poor, I had often assisted this 
old man with such trifles as I could spare, and I 
thought that he might perhaps console and advise 
me in my troubles. 

" The result was beyond my expectations; the 
blind old man, who had very acute hearing, informed 
me to my indescribable joy that he had heard the 
voice of my lady-love loudly bewailing her lot, as 
she was borne against her will by several moun- 
taineers passing the spot he inhabited, and inquiring 
what was the matter, he had been told that the girl 
was on her way to Brummana to guard her from any 
intercourse with myself. This was enough for me; 
arming myself with a stout cudgel and a good strong 
rope, I immediately proceeded to Brummana, but by 
the time I reached that village, the sun had set in 
the west. 

"I asked a shepherd where the relatives of the 
father of the girl lived, and he indicated the house, 



A "GIN." 



77 



adding at the same time; though wholly unaware of 
my errand, that the girl was confined in a solitary 
outhouse whose doors were locked and bolted, and 
whence she was only to come forth on the morning 
appointed for her bridal. 

" Silently and quietly I prowled about that neigh- 
bourhood until night had fairly set in, and no jackal 
ever watched for his prey more eagerly and secretly 
than I watched. 

" By and by I saw an old man, carrying a lantern, 
and followed by a woman with a pitcher and some 
supper, undo the heavy bolts of that door; they only 
waited till the girl should light a little lamp, and 
then bidding her good night gruffly, they locked the 
doors again and withdrew. One by one I heard all the 
doors of the surrounding houses closed for the night, 
and then warily creeping along under the dark shadow 
of walls and pieces of rock, I clambered stealthily upon 
the roof of the room, and stretching myself out so 
as to insert my head into the aperture in the centre, 
(used as a chimney,) I gently whispered the girl's 
name, and adjured her to be of good courage. It was 
some moments before I could convince her of the 
reality of my presence ; at first she thought I was a 
"gin," and was upon the point of screaming out for 
assistance; poking my head further in, however, she 
was just able by the dim light of the lamp to recognise 
my features, and then her joy was even greater than 
her fear had been. I earnestly implored her not to 



78 



PRISON-BREAKING. 



lose a moment in useless exclamations or questions, 
but at once to solve the problem how I was to get her 
out of that room without waking the family, or any 
of the neighbours. 

" Opening the doors, even had they been simply 
bolted, was out of the question, but on looking round 
the room, where she had been confined, we luckily 
discovered a spade, that had been thrown there by some 
of the peasantry; this she handed me through the 
aperture, and noiselessly and stealthily I immediately 
began removing the earth upon the terrace, so as 
to widen the hole sufficiently large to admit of her 
passing through it. This was a work of agonising sus- 
pense and terror to myself ; in ten minutes, however, it 
was accomplished. 

"I looked around to see that there was no one 
watching our proceedings ; — everything was silent, and 
dark as night itself. I knotted the rope I had brought 
to the centre of the cudgel, and suspending this over 
the aperture, let down the other end of the cord, and 
entreated the girl to fasten it securely round her 
girdle. Just at this moment a troop of hungry jackals 
began yelling and making the most discordant noise 
right in the very centre of the village. 

" I threw myself flat upon my face, and held my 
breath, cursing inwardly the disturbance these ani- 
mals were making, which was quite enough to rouse 
up the whole village; the bark of a few village curs 
was, however, the only notice taken of these nocturnal 



THE ESCAPE, 



79 



invaders. Trembling in every nerve, I rose up and 
whisperingly inquired of the girl if she was ready ; she 
replied in the affirmative, and in two minutes afterwards 
we were locked in each others embraces. 

" The roof of this house, however, was no place for 
us to make mutual inquiries or give mutual assurances 
of love and esteem. Gently letting her down, I leapt 
to the earth lightly, and with the cudgel in one hand 
and leading her with the other, I crept noiselessly and 
silently away until distance gave us assurance of safety 
and unsealed our lips. 

" Then we talked bravely of what we should do, and 
where we should live, and how happily we should get 
on hereafter. The moon came over the mountains, 
and shone clearly upon our pathway, and the cool 
sea-breeze swept pleasantly by from the ocean; we 
called these two to witness, (for we had no other tes- 
timony at hand,) that we would never desert or prove 
unkind to each other. We walked on stoutly all that 
night, over the rough uneven ground, until we reached 
the plains below, and the first people that entered the 
gates of Beyrout that morning, after they were opened, 
were myself and my wife. 

"I call her my wife/ 1 said the Druse, pausing in 
his pipe, and looking at us through a wreath of smoke, 
" because there she is," pointing to the comely matron 
of the house ; " that's the girl that I carried away, and 
lam the man that married her;" and having said this 
much, the Druse called for coffee, promising that after 



80 



BEGINNING OF TROUBLES. 



we had rested awhile he would resume the thread of 
his narrative. 

" The course of true love, however," continued the 
Druse, " never in one single instance has been known 
to run smoothly, and this we found to be the case 
with us at the very outset of wedded life ; what few 
piastres I could raise by selling my wife's jewels gradu- 
ally diminished, and starvation seemed to be staring 
us in the face. I had no good luck of any description, 
and my health and strength and good- will had no 
chance of being put to the test. I went to merchants 
and shopkeepers and begged for employment, but they 
told me that my garments were so ragged that I had 
much better set myself up as a scarecrow in a field : 
labourers were plentiful, so were servants, so were 
idlers. I tried to turn boatman, but from my want of 
experience was continually losing my balance, dipping 
up the oar and splashing all the rest ; in addition to 
all this, the motion of the boat made me feel des- 
perately ill, so that when I had once set foot on shore 
again I foreswore the sea. 

" In this unenviable state of affairs. I found my 
way to Nahr Bey rout, where an hospitable cafegi, close 
to the bridge, took compassion upon my state, and gave 
me food and employment: I made coffee and filled 
pipes for travellers. 

" In all this interval my wife had been equally indus- 
trious, and equally unfortunate; she had striven hard 
to gain employment in some of the European families, 



THE CONSCRIPTION. 



81 



but these were all too well provided with servants who 
knew their business, to wish to make trial of a stranger. 
However, things prospered a little at the coffee house. 
In my spare moments I tilled and cultivated a little 
plot by the river side, where I reared cucumbers and 
melons, and by selling these to travellers, I began to 
realise a little money. 

" Things began to look bright again, when sud- 
denly a dark cloud lowered upon the horizon of our 
happiness, and threatened instantaneously to annihi- 
late for ever all our future plans. A general con- 
scription was being carried on vigorously throughout 
Syria, and in my unprotected and exposed position 
I knew I had not the slightest chance of escaping ; 
and that had I been once enlisted, then I might bid 
adieu for ever to wife and all dreams of home. 

"In this state of affairs I was compelled to adopt 
severe and speedy remedies ; there was only the choice 
left me of momentary anguish and after inconvenience, 
or of perpetual slavery. I fixed upon the former, 
and it now only remained for me to determine upon 
the species of mutilation which would most effec- 
tually secure me from the snares of the enlisting 
party. Either I must chop off the thumb of my right 
hand, deprive myself of sight, or knock out my fore 
teeth. A heavy iron hammer was lying conveniently 
at hand ; I seized upon it with all the determination 
of despair, and in another second had inflicted a 
terrible blow. 

G 



82 



TURKISH SOLDIERS. 



" Here is the result, 1 '' said the Druse, pausing in his 
narrative, and pointing to a gap in his mouth, where 
the whole row of front teeth were wanting; "this 
effectually protected me from the thraldom of the 
conscription. 

"A few days afterwards, a party of riotous and 
drunken Turkish soldiers took up their position for 
the night in the cafe, and the officer had hardly 
cast his eye upon me before he declared me a lawful 
prize to the Sultan ; he brought all my limbs under 
inspection, I was a good height and able-bodied, but 
when he came to look into my mouth then his indig- 
nation knew no bounds, I thought he would have 
shot me on the spot; however, contenting himself with 
abusing and striking me with the butt end of a 
pistol, he declared to his companions that I was un- 
fitted for the service, being disabled from biting off 
the end of a cartridge. 

"This was my last and most trying adventure; 
after this, things went on smoothly and pleasantly. 

" One day I had gone to Beyrout with a basket 
load of cucumbers, which I sold to Hammood Noueri, 
the well-known market gardener who supplies the tables 
of all the consuls and European merchants in Bey- 
rout ; whilst receiving the money in return, a stranger 
who was passing by, paused and scrutinised my face 
inquisitively; by and by he made bold to ask me my 
name and the village I belonged to, and when I had 
satisfied him on these points he at once embraced me, 



XEW HOPE? AWAKEXED. 



83 



declaring that he was nearly related to my father's 
family and had recognised me from the family likeness. 
Going with this man to the nearest coffee shop he 
treated me with coffee and narghiles and begged me 
to tell him all my past history, present position, and 
future prospects. This I did candidly and freely, and 
when I had concluded he assured me that he would 
immediately proceed to the house of my wife's father, 
and there arrange matters so that we might again 
return to our native village and settle down on pater- 
nal property. 

" Soon after this we separated ; the stranger had 
business in Beyrout which he said might detain him 
a week or ten days, but at the end of a fortnight or 
three weeks he promised to call at the coffee house 
and let me know how matters sped. 

" I went home that day to my wife with a lighter 
heart and brighter hopes than I had ever experienced; 
she, poor thing, was all in a flutter with joy, fear, and 
excitement. Xo captive bird ever bemoaned its liberty 
more sincerely than did my wife regret the absence 
of the familiar scenery and haunts of her native 
mountains, from which she had been now separated 
upwards of a twelvemonth ; and this, as you know, 
ya side, was a very long period for a Druse to absent 
himself from his mountains. 

"'You Frange think nothing of travelling for months 
and years together thousands of miles away from 
your birthplace, and yet seemingly suffer no incon- 

G 2 



84 



SUCCESSFUL EFFORTS, 



venience nor yet allow anything to mar your hap- 
piness. Now we Druses, on the contrary, never go a 
day's journey distant from our villages except from 
necessity and upon business, and then we are never 
comfortable or pleased till we reach home again, whilst 
our friends at home Vyishtako alai-y-na (have all 
thoughts concentrated upon us) as though every footstep 
were beset by peril and difficulty. 

" But to resume my tale. Neither of us slept a 
wink that night for thinking over the pleasure in store 
for us, and from anxiety lest the old people should 
prove obdurate and refuse to pardon the act of disobe- 
dience. Meanwhile I was secretly determined not to 
build too much upon hopes, not to let a reality 
escape by grasping at a shadow; I determined to per- 
severe in that manual labour which had already earned 
me a small independence. I added a small piece of 
uncultivated ground to that which I had already tilled 
and reaped a harvest from; I bought other vegetable 
seeds and sowed them here, and when I was occupied 
by my duties at the coffee house, then my wife 
helped to weed the garden and watered the plants 
regularly. 

" Things throve, but more than a month had elapsed 
and as yet no tidings of the stranger. The anxiety 
and suspense was very cruel to my wife, bat for myself, 
I bore up against them manfully, and I tried to cheer 
her by the assurance that if things went on prospering 
as they did, we might then in the course of a year or 



THE TANTOUR. 



85 



two at most return to our native village independent of 
the assistance or countenance of others. 

"So day passed on after day; my vegetables had 
thriven well, and I supplied the best batinjans and 
bamias brought by any villager to the souk-il-khoudra 
(vegetable market). This added considerably to my 
original stock of piastres, so that by the time that the 
autumn set in I was not only enabled to purchase all 
our winter provisions and clothes, but I was in the 
position to buy ray wife a respectable tantour, which 
she immediately donned, and which, as you know, 
proclaimed her at once to be a woman ranking with 
all wedded wives amongst our people ; in addition to 
this, I had purchased her some very gay clothes, with 
a new tarboosh, new slippers, and a new white izar. 
Even after all these expenses, finding that I had still a 
few gazis and several twenty-para pieces left, I bored 
holes through them all, and stringing them upon 
cords, the former I suspended round her forehead, 
whilst the latter were fastened to the plaited ends of 
her beautiful long tresses. 

" Now, thought I, as I sat and smoked my pipe and 
watched my wife gracefully moving to and fro in our 
little cottage,— now, I am not ashamed that our greatest 
sheik should see how respectable and comfortable we 
look. 

" By this time the autumn had fairly passed, and the 
consuls and gentlemen who had resorted to the moun- 
tains for the summer were hourly returning to their 



86 DRUSE OPULENCE. 

town houses in Bejrout; for every cup of coffee and 
every pipe I furnished these, I was sure to receive a 
larger or smaller amount of baksheesh, so that by the 
time the winter had set in I was actually worth several 
hundred piastres in cash. 

"Still I determined not to let this lie idle. I went 
to the neighbouring villages and purchased a stock 
of poultry, and having built them a compact and safe 
house, their keep cost me nothing. I let them out 
in the morning, and they strolled over the place with 
unrestrained liberty, always returning to their henroost 
by nightfall. In addition to the worms and grubs 
they picked up, every caravan of mules and every horse 
that passed by was sure to afford them a plentiful 
meal ; the oats shaken out of the horse bags and what 
was spilt from sacks of grain affording them a sump- 
tuous repast. My fowls grew fat and plump; every day 
in the henroost there was a plentiful supply of eggs, 
most of which, as well as the fowls themselves, I sold 
in the market at Bey rout, and when the setting season 
arrived, I had upwards of a dozen hens hatching as 
many eggs a-piece. 

"I was now, so to say, a comparatively wealthy 
man, and I had serious ideas of going into partner- 
ship with the coffee-house keeper when an unexpected 
incident diverted my attention from this channel. 

" By this time the stranger had been almost for- 
gotten, or when thought of, only remembered with 
harshness and looked upon as a light and faithless 



A STERN FATHER. 



87 



man who had trifled with the best feelings of others for 
his own sport and amusement. 

" One night, however, just towards the end of winter, 
when the wind was blowing in mighty puffs down 
from the mountains, and the sky was obscured with 
stormy clouds, a stranger, drenched to the skin and 
weary with travelling, entered the coffee house, and 
divesting himself of his damp clothes revealed to me 
the never-to-be-forgotten face of that false friend. 
I immediately taxed him with his great insincerity, 
but he swore by his long white beard that not a 
week had elapsed in this interval which had not seen 
him interceding on our behalf. The mother had long 
since relapsed in her severity, and her heart yearned 
towards her long-absent daughter; but the father 
was stern and obstinate — his daughter had married 
a beggar, and a beggar she should remain all her life. 

" I thought the best reply to make to this harsh 
exclamation was to take the stranger by the hand and 
introduce him into my own cottage; the appearance 
of comfort and even opulence seemed to surprise and 
gratify him beyond measure. 

" That night he remained our guest ; the fattest 
hens were served at his repast, the warmest bed 
placed at his disposal. Next morning he rose early, 
and mounting his horse, went back, as he had come, 
without even thanking us for our hospitality. ' There 
goes a base man!' was my wife's exclamation; and 
I myself thought that he was unworthy to be called 



88 



THE RETURN HOME. 



a Druse. The very next day, however, a group of 
well-dressed horsemen approached from the mountains, 
and foremost amongst these rode my wife's father. 
Tears and supplications, and the miseries of poverty, 
had had no influence in changing his mulish deter- 
mination ; but no sooner had he learned from the 
stranger that we were living in comparative opulence, 
and that my wife had strings of gazis round her 
tarboosh, than his obdurate heart relented. 6 That 
man,' said he, 6 is worthy and fit to be called my 
son-in-law, and shall be fetched home with becoming 
dignity and honour. 1 With him, as with all the 
world, gold possessed an irresistible influence; the key 
to his affections, the touchstone to his heart, was a 
golden gazi; il hamd'l Allah, I had plenty of these, 
and so I was reclaimed. 

" Next day we all came back to this village ; in the 
course of years my children were born and sprung up 
like props around me. The old man lived out the 
years of his strength, and then he was buried by the 
side of his wife — may he rest in peace ! All his pos- 
sessions were inherited by me, because my wife was the 
only child that had outlived the old people. 

" By degrees I added little by little to the inheri- 
tance. The old house crumbled away, and I built this 
new one. In putting up the door I fastened on a 
strong bolt, hoping always to shut it securely not only 
against winter winds and cold, but against the worst 
of all intruders, poverty and famine. At the same 



DRUSE PHILOSOPHY. 



89 



time I made the door wide, so that it might open 
freely to all guests who honor me with their company, 
I care not of what creed or cast in life, or whether 
he be a sheik or a beggar. Many shadows have fallen 
across the threshold of that door as the weary have 
sought refreshment and repose, but none which have 
afforded me truer happiness and pleasure than that 
which now is reflected from your august person." 
Winding up with this burst of flowery rhetoric, our 
hospitable host starts up to his feet, and stretching all 
his limbs with weary lassitude, warns us with a yawn 
that the hour for repose has arrived. 



90 



CHAPTER VII. 

NIGHT — PANORAMA OF THE PAST — ISRAEL IN LEBANON — THE 
BUILDERS OF THE TEMPLE — NEWS OF THE SAVIOUR — RUTHLESS 
INVADERS — THE DISCIPLES OF MAHOMET — THE CRUSADES — 
EARLY MORNING. 

Silence hath set her finger with soft touch 
Upon Creation's lip. Like a young mother, the moon 
Lifts up Night's curtains, and with a countenance mild 
Smiles on the beauteous Earth — her sleeping child. 

What noble actions spring to flowery prime, 

Spring from the seed Thought, sowed in such a time. 

Anonymous. 

What a beautiful thing is night, when seen and 
felt upon the summits of Lebanon in the balmy month 
of June! the picture of the painter and the theme of 
the poet are here realised and even surpassed. Not- 
withstanding our weariness from yesterday's fatigues, 
we find the closeness within the closed hut one of the 
many obstacles to balmy sleep in Syria. But the 
family have long since been twenty fathoms deep in 
slumber, when, after turning and twisting in ineffectual 
search of sleep, we come to the conclusion of shifting 



NIGHT. 



01 



our positions and transporting our temporary beds out 
into the more congenial atmosphere of the yard in front 
of the house. Noiselessly and stealthily we undo the 
heavy latches of the door, so as not to break in upon 
the repose of the other inmates; yet the rusty old 
hinges grate discordantly, and the heavy old door 
groans again as it swings upon them, 

It would require a greater disturbance than we 
occasion to arouse or waken up a native family in 
their first sleep; we accomplish our modern miracle 
without even interrupting one note in the bass sonorous 
concert of the snoring family, and, having accomplished 
this, we draw the door to, and seat ourselves upon 
our mattresses, All the sufferings of heat and want of 
sleep vanish under the magical influence of the wand 
of the spirit of the night; slumber has forsaken our 
eyelids, for one of nature's most serene and enchanting 
pic'tures is developed at this moment. 

As we loll back on our cushions and gaze through 
the clear atmosphere of night up into the star-spangled 
firmament above us, the silvery moon seems perceptibly 
to glide over the glassy surface of the skies, emitting, 
as she sails along, refulgent beams of light which scatter 
themselves over the surface of the earth; not a cloud 
shrouds enviously the glimmering light of the count- 
less -tars in the milky way; and those other worlds, 
the planets, are lighted up with all the brilliancy of 
their own particular suns, whilst our earth is shrouded 
in night. 



92 



PANORAMA OF THE PAST. 



And what thoughts flock into the busy workhouse of 
memory as scenes of bygone centuries, revealed through 
pages of Holy Writ, flit across the brain and picture to 
the mind nations and people that have long since been 
numbered with things past ! That very firmament, 
and moon, and stars, upon which we are now gazing, 
for forty years watched over the wanderings of the 
disobedient children of Israel as they encamped night 
after night in the wilderness. They too, like us, 
doubtless marvelled at the magnitude and splendour 
of the mighty works of creation ; yet whilst the very 
manna fell like dew from heaven around them, mur- 
muring against the unseen hand which guided and pro- 
tected, and fed them in their desolate solitude, — so 
innate was ingratitude even in those early days, so 
deeply seated in the human mind. 

Then earthquakes shake the earth, and the disobe- 
dient followers of Dathan and Abiram disappear 
beneath the yawning chasms of the earth that open 
and close over them ; the trembling children of Israel 
tremble more as they witness this, and repent them 
of the evil. But these have long since been mingled 
with the dust, and the voice of their testimony has 
been hushed for centuries. 

Yet there were other witnesses of this terrible 
visitation upon sin and wickedness. The surface of 
the earth may have been changed, rivers altered their 
course, mountains crumbled to dust, and the sea 
encroached or disappeared from the familiar haunts 



ISRAEL IN LEBANON. 



93 



of her waves; but the heavens and the stars, these 
still remain the same ; the same moon cast her mantle 
of light over the very earth that covered the rebellious 
multitude, shining then as unclouded and serenely as 
she shines this night over Lebanon. 

Then memory takes a leap through centuries of time ; 
the track of the weary multitude upon the desert sands 
of the wilderness has been long since effaced by 
the winds of stormy seasons; the groves and the high 
places, and the altars of idolatry, have disappeared 
from the hills of Judea and Lebanon ; the children of 
bondage have been led in safety into the land promised 
to their forefather Abraham, and the echo of the harp 
of Judah resounds from dell to dell. What sings the 
psalmist king as the chords re vibrate to the song of 
faith 1 

" The dawn of each returning day 

Fresh beams of knowledge brings, 
And from the dark returns of night 
Divine instruction springs." 

The children of Israel dwelt amongst the Hivites 
upon this very Mount Lebanon. 

Memory turns over another page in the history 
of past ages. The voice of the inspired psalmist is 
hushed in the cold sleep of death, but there blazes 
forth from his vacant seat on the throne of Israel the 
wisdom and the glory of Solomon. 

Still does the song of Israel wake up echoes in these 
mountains, — still the mighty springs of water murmur 



94 



THE BUILDERS OF THE TEMPLE. 



on pleasantly or leap in foaming cascades over pre- 
cipice and mountain height, — still the same firmament, 
stars, and moon, are suspended like a splendid canopy 
of brilliants. But the intense silence that reigned here 
aforetime in the night season has been banished for 
awhile ; from the mountains resound the harsh 
voice of the axe and the groaning crash of heavy 
falling trees, — the loud cry of labourers inciting each 
other to labour, — the low moaning of heavily-burthened 
oxen, — the sound of timber being hewn and shaped, or 
the track of heavier beams upon the pathways of 
Lebanon; all these proclaim that the thousands of 
workmen sent by Solomon have set their shoulders to 
the wheel, and the work of the mighty temple is pro- 
gressing rapidly. 

Night and day, day and night, busy gangs are scat- 
tered over every accessible part of Lebanon; the 
beauty and the pride of centuries are levelled with the 
earth, and the cedars of ancient growth are hewn 
down and borne away to Jerusalem. Then the night 
watch of overseers and head clerks sat often as we 
now sit, urging the men to labour, else praising to one 
another the clear unclouded moonlight which helped 
to further the progress of the work. 

Silence once again reigns upon the Lebanon; the 
noisy bustling crew have lived to see their labour 
accomplished; the temple has risen in glory and fame, 
and been swept away again by the ruthless hand of 
time; the sun of Israel has set, and the morning 



NEWS OF THE SAVIOUR. 



95 



star of Christianity risen over the summits of the 
snow-capped mountains. 

Strange men, who were travellers and pilgrims 
amongst those hills, came, and told the natives stranger 
tales of what things had been said and done at Jeru- 
salem ; how the wise men had come out of the far east, 
led by a brilliant star, to the lowly manger; — how 
Herod had persecuted and slain the innocents; — how 
ignorant men were suddenly endowed with the gifts of 
eloquence and language; — how the Jews, in angry 
multitudes, had risen up and oppressed and beaten 
dauntless men, whose faith endowed them with more 
courage than the lion; — how they had smitten some, 
imprisoned some, and banished others, yet still how 
perseveringly the same men came back again, and 
preached the same doctrine ; and how marvellously men 
born blind had been made to see, the maimed and the 
cripple made whole, the children of corruption brought 
forth from the recesses of the grave with life and 
health ; how, finally, the governors and high priests 
had leagued together and crucified that man, whose 
only deeds were mercy ; and how the face of all nature, 
revolting at their base ingratitude, turned mysteriously 
dark for the space of several hours, whilst — 

Mountains labour'd and groan'd with pain, 
And the veil of the temple was rent in twain. 

These, and many other marvellous truths, did the 
pilgrim and stranger pour into the listening ears of the 



96 



RUTHLESS INVADERS. 



people that then dwelt on Lebanon; and some believed, 
and some mocked at them as idle tales, whilst time 
steadily turned the globe, and generation was numbered 
after generation. 

Hank weeds sprang up and stifled what good 
seeds these early pilgrims had scattered, and the gilded 
head of idolatry was reared above the mountain-tops. 
Still the moon, like a careful mother, watched over 
the slumberers on Lebanon, — still the dew copiously 
refreshed the earth, and the canopy of heaven was still 
the same resplendent firmament of stars. 

Ages rolled by ; the shadow from that cross where 
the good Man had been crucified fell, like a refulgent 
stream of light, over the waters of the Mediterranean, 
and far into the lands of the west ; yet still where the 
cross itself was planted ignorance and superstition 
prevailed — impenetrable darkness clothed the earth. 

Suddenly the quiet and repose of the villages in 
Lebanon was broken in upon by frightened fugitives, 
who, flying from the plains below, sought shelter in 
the inaccessible heights. 

These people brought up with them terrible tales of 
murder and cruelty and bloodshed ; telling how wild 
men, swarming like locusts upon the earth, had risen 
suddenly, like a cloud not bigger than a hand, in the 
distant east, and nearing the confines of Palestine, had 
burst, like a terrible hurricane, over the land. 

Every city, and town, and village, had been ravished 
by these ruthless invaders, their sabres sharp and 



THE DISCIPLES OF MAHOMET. 



97 



besmeared with innocent gore ; their creed destruction 
and extermination to all that professed not a like faith 
with themselves. 

The disciples of Mahomet had overcome the land, — 
the cross was trampled down, — the Koran and the 
crescent preached to all tribes, — and the same moon 
looking down with placid beam beheld, reflected in her 
rays, a gaudy mockery of her younger self. 

Banners with crescent moons, and lofty minarets 
topped with gilded emblems of the same, reared them- 
selves in plains and upon mountains, and overtopped 
the stateliest trees. 

Then the descendants of the Hivites, who had 
been permitted to dwell with the Jews on Lebanon, 
whose faith had wavered between idolatry and the 
law of Moses — between the law and the Gospels — 
now wavered again between the faith of a Christian 
and the new-fangled creed of Mahomet. 

No man could read the secrets of their hearts, but in 
outer forms they bowed and conceded to such as might 
chance to be the lords of the land. Great was the fame 
of the caliphs and descendants of Mahomet ; the 
Moslem's prayer echoed musically, but profanely, from 
mountain to mountain in the Lebanon, but her 
children heeded not the music, nor cared for the echo. 
Wrapped in superstitious idolatry, and worshipping in 
secret caverns and in solitude a being created primate 
of their faith by the legends and tales of their ances- 
tors, out of the many faiths that had been preached 

H 



98 



THE CRUSADES. 



upon those mountains, they had gleaned together 
fragments and odds and ends. Adding to these their 
own original legends and superstitions, they constituted 
a creed entirely their own, from which source, most 
probably, the present race of Druses derive all their 
notions or knowledge of religion. 

Again the cycles of time revolve: sturdy warriors, 
clad in armour, the sons of Western Europe, scramble 
up the mountain heights, and mingling, fraternise with 
the children of Lebanon. Their crosses and their 
rosaries proclaim them crusaders, — heroes of valiant 
heart, and stout in faith, who, charmed by the phren- 
zied eloquence of men like Peter the Hermit, have 
left wealth, and home, and affection, and comfort, 
behind them, to combat with the usurper who has 
trampled upon the cross, and to drive them from the 
land they polluted. 

But the fulness of time for so great a victory had 
not then arrived; reverses and misfortunes, death, by 
slaughter and by pestilence, fearfully thinned their 
ranks, till the only home left them in the land of 
their pilgrimage, was here, amongst the sons of the 
Lebanon. That same moon and stars at which we 
now lie gazing, shone mildly over the graves of three 
hundred thousand chivalrous men, the flower of all 
Europe's armies. 

The bubble of fanaticism had burst and collapsed in 
the west, and the victims of the fanatic Peter had 
bitten the dust in Palestine ; those few that sur- 



EARLY MORNING. 



99 



vived are supposed to have intermarried with, and 
dwelt among, the people of the Lebanon. Even of 
very recent years records have turned up, — papers with 
the names and armorial bearings of some of the most 
aristocratic families in France; — but the enigma must 
ever remain unsolved as to whether or not the people 
in whose hands these relics were found are really 
descended from, or scions of, the same noble stock. 

So the night speeds on, in wakeful yet dreamy 
solitude; the reality of the present is clearly defined 
upon the mountains by the villages and gardens of 
its present occupants. Presently the low booming 
sound of the Maronite priest, summoning his flock to 
early prayers, assures us that even at the present 
hour men live here who call themselves Christians, 
whilst we have indisputable proofs of the existence of 
heathens and idolators around us. The hour has not 
yet arrived, though let us hope it is not far distant, 
when the brighter morning star shall shine over the 
mountains of Lebanon, and extinguish in its more 
brilliant light the dim Bickerings of superstition and 
ignorance. 

During all this reverie, the intense solitude of night 
has only been occasionally broken in upon by the dis- 
cordant howlings of hungry troops of jackals, or the 
plaintive and melancholy note of the night owl, howl- 
ing its dismal song from the darker recesses of the 
mountain . Thousands of crickets take up their morning 
hymn, and chaunt out loudly and merrily from their 

h 2 



100 



EARLY MORNING. 



houses in the bark of the pine tree. The tinkling of an 
occasional muleteer's bell warns us that industrious 
man is already on the alert ; the flocks of goats are 
bleating impatiently for the first streak of morning; 
the light of the moon grows languid ; the stars glimmer 
feebler and feebler. The night is passed; the morning 
wakes up in the east, and the heavy dew falls, satu- 
rating the grateful earth. 
Arise! and let us go hence. 



101 



CHAPTER VIII. 

DRUSE HOUSEWIFE — DOMESTIC PREPARATIONS — SCARCITY OF MEAT 
— REMARKABLE PHENOMENA — PETRIFACTIONS — CONVENT AT 
KARKAFE — STORY RELATIVE TO THE COOK — RECREATION OF 
THE MONKS — THE MONKS OF KARKAFE — THE DINING ROOM — 
BREAD ROOM AND STOREHOUSE — THE LAST RESTING PLACE. 

Rise up and mak a clean fireside, 
Put on the miekle pot; 

There are twa hens upon the bank, 

Have fed this month and mair, 
Mak haste, and thraw their necks about, 

That Colin weel may fare. 

Burns. 

The Druses, in common with all other sects inha- 
biting the East, are an early and industrious people; 
the first light of morning warns the good man of the 
house, at all seasons of the year, and in any weather, 
(health permitting,) to jump up from his couch, and 
thoroughly arouse himself for the day's work before 
him. At the same time his wife is equally indus- 
trious, and she has many domestic matters which 
require her care and attention, and which must be all 
settled before the children awake and interfere with 
her occupation. The Druse comes forth, and at the 
nearest fountain goes through his early ablutions ; 
after this he sits awhile, generally upon the grind- 



102 



DRUSE HOUSEWIFE. 



stone, in the yard in front of his house, and then 
indulges in a pipe. 

Meanwhile his wife has hurriedly prepared for hiin 
his early breakfast, for our Druse is a labourer, and 
his duties require speedy attendance at the field. 
What was left from yesterday evening's repast, with 
a few loaves and a bit of cheese or so, constitute this 
meal; his wife seldom joins him in this repast, because, 
in the first instance, she has not to undergo that fatigue 
and manual labour to which her husband is exposed, 
and which absolutely require support ; and then she 
cannot find time till all household affairs are settled 
to sit down and think about her appetite. 

Whilst the husband is at his meal, the wife goes 
and supplies the oxen with provender; she gives the 
horse his corn, she unpens the goats and the poultry, 
and having scattered a little barley for these latter, 
she helps the shepherds in milking the goats; and 
then runs back to the house again. By this time the 
husband has shouldered his plough, and driven off the 
oxen to the field of his labour, where, with little 
intermission, he will toil till close upon mid-day, 
enlivening the hours with an occasional wild song 
or by a screaming conversation, carried on with other 
ploughmen similarly occupied in adjacent fields. Every 
now and then, when the heat is very oppressive indeed, 
he will sit down and repose for a few moments upon 
the shaft of his plough ; and then his eldest son, who 
assists him as far as his strength permits, fills and lights 



DOMESTIC PREPARATIONS. 



103 



a pipe for him, having tinder and steel and flint 
always at hand. 

In this interval, the wife has rolled up the mat- 
tresses and stowed them away for the day ; she then 
sprinkles the floor over with water, and carefully 
sweeps the house and the front yard. This done she 
lights a fire, and setting thereon a huge cauldron of 
water, she wakes up the children and makes them 
breakfast sumptuously; for in their opinion, unless 
children eat immensely they can never thrive or 
remain healthy. After breakfast the warm water 
is brought into play, the faces and the hands of the 
children are purified, and with what remains she 
washes and scours up all the plates and cooking 
utensils ; this done she begins to think about her 
own personal appearance, tidies up her hair and her 
dress as well as time and her limited wardrobe will 
permit, and if there is any little washing to be done, 
she takes this in hand and goes through it at once. 
Then comes the consideration of what they are to have 
for dinner. Going into the little garden behind the 
house, she plucks a few love apples, or any other 
vegetable that may chance to be in season; then she 
hunts up the henroost for new-laid eggs ; and these, in 
addition to the goat's milk, the cheese, and the burghol 
already alluded to, constitute the ingredients ordinarily 
cooked for their mid-day meal. As, however, there 
are guests in the house, something additional is requi- 
site for hospitality's sake; so the eldest daughter is 



104 



SCARCITY OF MEAT. 



sent away hurriedly to her father in the field, to get 
some money from him to buy meat with, should 
it so chance that any sheep, or goat, or ox, has been 
slaughtered within three miles of the place. But if, as 
is very often the case, no meat is to be had either for 
love or money, then they are compelled to have 
recourse to the poultry ; in any way, rely upon it, 
the careful housewife will manage to prepare against 
mid-day, a very unexceptionable meal ; so that having 
this pleasant certainty in perspective, we indulge in 
a cup of coffee and a pipe, and then we take a stroll 
in the neighbourhood. 

Passing under the hill, where stands the palace of 
the Emir on whom we called yesterday evening, we con- 
tinue along the base of the valley till we arrive at 
one of the stone reservoirs which supplies the mill 
that we noticed; and walking over the ledge of this, 
we scramble up the mountain side, and come to the 
foot of the desolate hill, where flocks of goats were 
last evening reposing. Here we find a beaten pathway 
which winds round the base of the hill, and whilst pur- 
suing it we walk along the brink of a deep ravine now 
full of sand and pebbles, like the dry bed of a river, 
but which in the winter is a foaming torrent of water 
fed by the overflowing of the several reservoirs. 

Following this tract, we arrive at the ain or open 
fissure where the water of the spring, after travelling 
some distance underground, pours forth into the light 
of day. Put your hand in, and though the heat of the 



REMARKABLE PHENOMENA. 



105 



sun is so intense that our walk has thrown us into a 
profuse perspiration, you instantly draw out your 
fingers again benumbed and almost congealed with 
cold. This is one of those great luxuries to be enjoyed 
in a climate like Syria. The peasant who has such a 
spring to resort to when thirsty and hot, spurns all 
those artificial luxuries which constitute the enjoyments 
of civilised life. 

Near this ain we find several large troughs hewn 
out of massive stones, and which it is the business of 
the women of the village to fill, so that the shepherds 
may the more conveniently water their flocks here. 

A high road leading from this spring conducts us to 
one of the most remarkable phenomena to be met 
with in the country of the Druses. Keeping to the 
left side of the road, we perceive still to our left an 
ordinary looking hill, at the foot of which are culti- 
vated grape vines and figs. There is nothing in the 
appearance of the place that would rivet the attention 
of even the most industrious antiquarian, for the sur- 
face of the hill presents simply a barren rocky ground. 

Keeping by the hill, however, but still pursuing the 
high road, we commence scrambling up the sides ; and 
when we have arrived at an elevation of about twenty 
feet from the road, then our astonishment is only 
equal to our gratification at the discovery we make. 
The whole surface of the hill is one mass of valuable 
and extraordinary petrifaction, well worthy the inves- 
tigation of all travellers in these regions. If ever 



106 PETRIFACTIONS. 

there was a spot that seemed to bear upon it a 
stamp of having been submersed under the ocean, 
most assuredly that spot is here met with. Closely 
packed together, yet in very capital condition, are 
multifarious shells and matter resembling sea weed, all 
in a perfect state of petrifaction, and which have 
apparently remained in this condition through cen- 
turies and ages of time. 

We do not pretend to penetrate deeply into the 
study of natural philosophy. The theories of Cuvier 
and other great naturalists teach men, as far as human 
instruction is admissible, to reckon the ages of the 
earth by the various layers and incrustations; but if 
ever there was a convincing testimony of the universal 
effects of the deluge, that testimony is here revealed, 
— at least we are simple enough ourselves to receive 
it as such, and as such it must remain until some 
wiser man shall have satisfactorily accounted for so 
singular a phenomenon.* 

* When I visited this mountain in 1851, the Greek priest 
Padre Salamouni, from the convent at Karkafe, who acted as my 
guide, and who is an extremely shrewd and intelligent man, assured 
me that I was the first European that had visited this spot, since the 
year 1820. Then an old Austrian traveller is said to have examined 
this hill, but as the priest had forgotten his name I was never able to 
obtain any clue as to the identity of the traveller, or as to whether or 
not he ever published the result of his investigation. I took care to 
provide myself with specimens from this mass of petrifaction, which 
I have brought to this country with me, and which have been much 
admired by antiquarians. Specimens of a few of the prevailing fea- 
tures I have presented to the Museum of the India House, and the 
honorable the Court of Directors have politely thanked me for the 
same. 



CONVENT AT KARKAFE. 



107 



Clambering right over this hill of curiosities, and 
gathering rare specimens as we go along, we descend 
on the opposite side into a well-cultivated vineyard, 
which being plentifully besprinkled with Greek priests, 
helping themselves to delicious clusters of grapes, leads 
us to suppose that the vineyard is the property of a 
convent; nor are we mistaken, for here comes a familiar 
face, Padre Giovanni Muana Salamouni, one of the 
monks of Karkafe, who having known us for some 
years, invites us to the convent to refresh ourselves 
and repose awhile. 

Above ten minutes' walk brings us to the convent; 
first, however, we come to a large open square, at a 
considerable elevation, on one side of which grow 
two stately wild oaks, and the entrance to which is 
grotesquely guarded by Abouna Buttros, a friendly old 
priest, seated tailor-fashion on a large piece of rock, 
enjoying his afternoon pipe. The shade afforded by 
the two trees is usually the resort of others. 

At the further end of this opening stands the 
church of the convent, and, near the church, the 
convent itself, — an old heavy-looking building, walled 
in on all sides, and well adapted to be the dwelling 
place of an anchorite. A small entrance door ushers 
us into a good sized yard, well paved all round, and 
supported upon numerous arches. In the centre is a 
dry fountain long since out of use. A sour pome- 
granate tree, of that peculiar species that never yields 
sweet fruit, and a few aromatic herbs, grow in this 



108 



STORY RELATIVE TO THE COOK. 



yard ; but with this exception, it is an utter desolation, 
surrounded by the lofty and sombre-looking walls of the 
building. Around us are the separate cells of the 
various monks, including the kitchen, the dining room, 
the storehouse, and the rooms devoted to making wine, 
oil, etc. All the fraternity labour for each other's 
mutual support; thus some are cooks, some cultivate 
the ground, some make the wine, others extract the oil, 
and so on throughout the whole chapter. 

Our friend, Padre Salamouni, tells us a strange 
story relative to the cook of the establishment, who 
is, as we very speedily discover, as deaf as a post; so 
deaf that he cannot hear what he articulates himself, 
and consequently is wholly unable to express himself 
in any intelligible language. It would appear that 
during one of those unhappily frequent disturbances 
which occur between the Christians and the Druses, 
and which in our opinion are too often instigated by 
the selfish intrigues of busybodies, this unhappy deaf 
man, who was in the perfect possession of both hear- 
ing and speech, was one day suddenly startled by 
somebody firing off a pistol close to his ear, which 
so injured the tympanum that from that moment his 
power of hearing was lost, and even his very intellect 
seemed to have been shaken ; notwithstanding all this, 
however, he is a most useful member of the com- 
munity, witness the goodly dinners so hospitably set 
before travellers and strangers. 

At either end of the yard is a small door, the one 



RECREATION OF THE MONKS. 



109 



conducting us to a well and some outhouses ; here the 
yard is well paved, and there is a basin and ewer, with 
soap, always at hand for the use of the inmates. 
Through the other door we pass into a garden-yard; 
perhaps this yard may be said to comprise the whole 
of the small stock of amusement and recreation allotted 
to these simple men upon earth. Herein, with childish 
simplicity, they have each their small plot of garden, 
where grow flowers and a fruit tree or two, reared from 
seed, and tended with all the watchful tenderness that 
a mother might lavish upon her offspring. 

Plants have sprung up and rewarded their nurturing 
care with the most odoriferous flowers; fruit trees have 
arrived at maturity, and recompense their labour and 
skill by plentiful and delicious crops; and perhaps no 
mortal beings ever tasted of such unalloyed happiness 
as these monks have experienced in culling their own 
flowers or gathering their own fruits, either to decorate 
some favourite altar, or else as a free-will offering to 
friends and strangers who have partaken of their 
hospitality. 

Some spots there are in this convent yard still 
carefully tended and watched over by the surviving 
brethren, but which were originally the solace of others 
who have finished their pilgrimage upon earth; a 
flourishing memento of the brotherly tie which unites 
these simple men together. Here, in the hour of 
recreation or leisure, the monks assemble, and seated 
under the shade of their respective trees, enjoy 



110 



THE MONKS OF KARKAFE. 



friendly converse, smoking the pipe of peace, and 
often indulging in their favourite game of drafts. Too 
poor and too indigent are these good men to indulge 
in costly draft-boards, but they have a ready remedy 
at hand ; the well-paved floor is chalked over in every 
direction with representations of the chequered pattern 
of the draft- board, their draftsmen are small pebbles, 
and with this material they enter keenly into the 
relish of the game. 

When one or two of the brethren undertake a 
journey to Beyrout, or some of the neighbouring towns 
or villages, for purposes connected with the welfare 
of the convent, returning, they become the lions of 
the day. 

Seated in this yard, and surrounded by the hermits, 
they recount with marvellous punctuality, all that 
they have seen or heard during their recent trip ; the 
marvellous steamers at Beyrout, the equally marvellous 
palaces that the Europeans have built themselves, the 
din and the clamour of the trade, the price of pro- 
visions, and in what health they found and left indi- 
vidual friends and acquaintances, — these are an exciting 
theme of conversation, an endless source of questions 
and answers; and when all have been satisfied and 
everything related and commented upon, then the 
brethren retire into the solitude of their respective 
cells and shut out the pomps and vanities of this 
world, in silent outpourings of the soul. 

They are a good, kindly, harmless people, — hos- 



THE DINING ROOM. 



Ill 



pitable to the stranger, considerate for the wants of 
the poor and destitute; and as they might be in a 
thousand different ways worse employed, the least we 
can say is to wish them peace and quiet in their noise- 
less pilgrimage through life. 

After having visited all these parts of the convent 
and gone into one or two of the cells, which are kept 
in admirable order, and where each monk has his 
little private supply of fruit, sugar, wine, etc., kept 
especially to treat visitors with, we are warned that 
the dinner hour of the brethren is close at hand by 
the loud ringing of the convent bell, which wakes up 
echoes far and wide; five minutes afterwards we are 
ushered into the dining room, which consists of one 
long apartment adjoining the kitchen, and where all 
the monks of the establishment are now assembled. 

The padre presidente, or chief monk, takes up his 
position at the head of a long narrow table, down 
either side of which the other monks and guests 
and strangers are ranged; the chief of the establish- 
ment implores a blessing, and then the dinner is 
served. During Lent their repasts are restricted to 
olives, oil, fruits, bread, and boiled wheat or rice, 
besides an infinity of vegetables, either fried in oil 
or used in salads. At other seasons the monks live 
well, supplying themselves with meat or poultry from 
their own resources. One grand article of consump- 
tion during Lent is the bakala, a species of dried salt 
fish brought to Beyrout by European vessels. 



112 



BREAD ROOM AND STOREHOUSE. 



At one extremity of the dining apartment is a room 
exclusively set aside for the supply of bread, which is 
ouly baked once a month during winter, and once a 
fortnight in the summer. In looking in we perceive 
the floor heaped up with these loaves, which resemble 
in size and shape an ordinary saucer, and serve as a 
capital substitute for spoons in dipping into soups or 
gravies. 

Beyond the bread room again is the grand store- 
house of the establishment ; in this, methodically 
arranged, are huge jars of oil, butter, wine, olives, 
pickles, dibs, honey, etc., baskets full of rice and 
lentils, huge sacks full of wheat, mountains of onions, 
pyramids of figs, dried fruit and nuts, festoons of dried 
herbs and red chilies, and amongst all these, licensed 
to roam at large, two or three sleek-looking cats, which 
keep the place clear of mice and rats. When this room 
has been stocked for the year, then the monks, closing 
their massive outer door against the cold and storms 
of winter, set at nought all fears of suffering or want ; 
the centre yard is piled up high with dry faggots 
collected from the mountains, and lighting a roaring 
fire from these, they gather around and make them- 
selves cheerful and happy, whilst nature outside looks 
bleak and dreary, and the snow falls heavily upon the 
ground. 

Bidding our hospitable friends farewell, we return 
as we came, just hesitating for a few minutes to con- 
template a cavern to the mouth of which massive stones 



THE LAST RESTING PLACE. 



113 



are rolled. These stones, our friend informs us, are 
only rolled away when any of the brethren of the 
convent die ; the remains are then brought thither and 
deposited on a shelf in this vault, which runs exactly 
under the church, the stones are then rolled back again 
to the mouth of the cave, and so, as casualties occur, 
men come and roll these massive stones backwards and 
forwards. But our friend, the priest, assures us that 
they all live and die in the hope that when time has 
finished its course, then brighter than men will stand 
at the entrance of that cave and rouse the long slum- 
bering occupants to an eternal dawn. 



114 



CHAPTER IX. 

RETURN TO THE DRUSE'S HOUSE — DRUSE WOMEN — THEIR ACQUIRE- 
MENTS — METAPHOR— THE RESULT — HAREMS OF THE EAST — AN 
ACCOMPLISHED FASHIONABLE— WINDOWS OF THE MIND— LIONS 
OF SOCIETY— THE ENGLISH NATION — THE QUEEN. 

. . . . to paint the lily. 
To throw a perfume on the violet, 
. . . . or add another hue 
Unto the rainbow, 



Is wasteful and ridiculous excess. 

Shakespeare. 

By the time we get back to the Druse's house, 
having loitered so long with the monks, the hour of 
their usual mid-day repast is over, and they are waiting 
in hungry expectation for our arrival; for the Druse 
is too hospitable to allow himself or any of his family 
to satisfy their hunger before all the guests are 
assembled. 

You will recollect that we left the Druse's house 
this morning under the firm conviction that we should 
not want for the good things of this life ; this convic- 
tion is now verified, and the repast spread before us 



RETURN TO THE DRUSE'S HOUSE. 



115 



would feed five times as many hungry persons as now 
sit down to it. 

After the mid-day repast it is usual with the master 
of the house to indulge in an hour's siesta, which he 
does with the doors of his hut closed so as to expel 
light, as also to keep away the swarms of annoying 
flies which would otherwise set repose at defiance. 

Whilst the master of the house is asleep, the wife 
and daughter wash up the cooking utensils and put 
these by till evening ; the children go forth on various 
errands of amusement, else fall asleep under the shade 
of the nearest tree. The wife has minor duties to 
attend to in the village, so she leaves us alone with 
the eldest daughter, who is a buxom lass of between 
sixteen and seventeen, and who, sitting down near us, 
enters into conversation without the least restraint or 
affectation. This fact alone proves that the Druses 
are not that jealous people they are sometimes repre- 
sented to be, nor are their women such slaves to the 
prevailing Mahometan custom in Syria of excluding 
their sex from the companionship of men; this rigid 
law has only effect in the intercourse of the Druses 
with each other, or with the Turks, and this fact 
also proves that they have greater confidence in the 
good faith and honour of Christians and strangers than 
they can place upon their own fraternity. 

If we may judge by the sample before us, the Druse 
women are not one whit behind their sisters in more 
civilised countries as far as regards natural sharpness 

I 2 



116 



DRUSE WOMEN. 



of intellect, and even wit; they possess, beyond a 
doubt, the rough unpolished matter which when worked 
up would constitute what is styled elegance and man- 
ners, — a perfect illustration of the aptitude of that 
ancient proverb which says, that the roughest surface 
often contains within it the greatest mineral wealth. 

Somehow or other, the Druses, in common with all 
classes inhabiting Syria, are born with a natural ten- 
dency to politeness and etiquette. This is more 
particularly the case with the women; the wildest 
mountain girl possesses a refinement of manners, an 
elegance of deportment, and a delicacy of speech, 
which one might seek for in vain amongst a similar 
class in England and France. That heavy awkward 
gesture and speech so familiar to clodhoppers, and 
which so immediately stamps the creature with the 
class he belongs to, is never to be met with in the 
East. 

Here the only perceptible difference between a 
princess and a peasant's daughter is in the costume. 
Take for instance, the Druse's daughter, now seated 
in familiar converse by our side ; she has never 
received even the rudiments of education, — she knows 
books only by their name ; she has heard of learned 
men who could actually write a whole letter, and her 
knowledge of geography extends to about five miles 
round the village where she was born; her acquire- 
ments in natural history may be summed up in goats, 
oxen, poultry, sparrows, hawks, jackals, owls, donkeys,, 



THEIR ACQUIREMENTS. 



117 



cats, dogs, and an occasional hedgehog. Tell her about 
fishes any bigger than tadpoles, and she will imme- 
diately imagine that they were all whales, and conse- 
quently difficult to swallow; tell her of birds bright in 
plumage and sweet in song, which never stir from 
their hot retreats in India and Africa, and she will 
retail such information as a capital fable to her 
younger brother, who is just cutting his teeth. 

Speak to her of flowers, fruits, and vegetables, 
multifarious as they are delicious in taste and smell, 
and nourishing to the body; her power of compre- 
hension is too limited to expand and embrace so vast 
a field of contemplation. She imagines that you are 
kindly endeavouring to amuse her with tales and 
stones, but she cannot for an instant identify the 
reality with the description. And, worst of all, if you 
hazarded a narrative combining all the marvels of 
science, talking about steamboats and railways, ships 
and balloons, crystal palaces and cathedrals, then she- 
would set you down as a magneton — a babbler of 
incoherent nonsense; for even her father, and her 
grandfather before him, had never talked of suchlike 
absurdities. Besides which, her notions of a palace 
are circumscribed, and the mud and stone building of 
the Emir MVad is in her conception the acme of 
architectural science- 
It is therefore worse than useless to attempt to 
describe anything, however simple, to an illiterate 
mind, which cannot distinguish between B and a bull's 



118 



METAPHOR. 



foot. When education has taken the rough uneven 
matter in hand, and gradually refined and polished it, 
then, as the dawn of knowledge opens upon the mind, 
so in exact proportion the mind itself expands and 
becomes more capable of embracing and cherishing 
the rays of knowledge. 

We cannot in the language of metaphor give a more 
beautiful example of the intellect of a Druse village 
maiden than by comparing it to an unblown rosebud; 
if the stem upon which it flourishes be conveniently 
planted where the heat of day and the dew of night 
refresh and invigorate the plant, then it will in due 
time expand, blow, and come to perfection. As the sun, 
gradually gathering strength, ascends in the horizon, 
so the rosebud under its congenial influence rapidly 
opens, developing itself a beautiful flower full of the 
richest incense. But if this same plant had sprung 
up in some secluded dell where the light barely 
penetrated, and both heat and cold were uncongenial, 
then the bud might arrive at maturity, but the 
richness of its odour and the beauty of its tint 
would have evaporated before the flower arrived at 
perfection, and the flower itself be a faded sickly 
specimen. 

Just so in the Druse girl, now budding into all the 
beauty of mature womanhood ; there is that lurking 
behind her brilliant eyes which tells us clearly and 
unmistakeably of latent talent. With her, as in the 
rosebud, the essence and the beauty of colour are yet 



THE RESULT. 



119 



undeveloped, they are closely entwined within the 
thick shrouding leaves of ignorance, and in her 
present position the atmosphere is uncongenial to the 
furtherance of her intellect, and no sun of knowledge 
has ever shone in through the tangled ignorance that 
surrounds her. 

The result is, that all the intrinsic worth and talent 
must exude almost imperceptibly, and by the time 
the flower is full blown, the woman arrived at ma- 
turity, then the sap and the essence will have 
evaporated, the dormant talents have been stifled, 
and only that remain about the flower which is just 
barely sufficient to classify it in its proper genus ; 
she will remain a woman and a human being all the 
days of her life, one stage removed from the brute 
creation, still vastly lower than cultivated and civilised 
beings in understanding and even in the dictates of 
the heart's affections. 

Take this girl however as she stands, or rather as 
she sits, beside us, divest her of her present costume, 
decorate her with jewels and ornaments, clothe her 
with silks and satins, and place her in the harem of 
the grand signior. She will experience no incon- 
venience, suffer no awkwardness by the sudden trans- 
position ; on the contrary, her natural airs and graces 
would lend fresh splendour to her gaudious attire, 
and her movements and actions would be ease per- 
sonified. In this respect, she would be the equal of 
the finest princess in the land, and a few days' initia- 



120 



HAREMS OF THE EAST. 



tion would make her competent of comprehending the 
enjoyments or sufferings of her position, and her 
intellect would expand just so far as would permit of 
her seeing and understanding everything around her. 
With regard to education, all the women in the 
harems of the East are on a par with herself, she is in 
every other respect perfectly their equal. 

How would this transfer stand good in any part 
of civilised Europe 1 Take the most angelic face and 
a form of most exquisite symmetry • transfer her 
from the lowly cot of her peasant father, and having 
duly invested her in fashionable attire, introduce her 
in the height of the season at my Lady Fiddlefaddle's 
ball ! and the picture conjured up is the most pitiable 
and heartrending conceivable. Not one single word, 
action, or movement, but what could call down 
criticism and contempt. The very air of aristocracy 
would be polluted by her presence, and none would 
feel more keenly the absurdity of her position than 
the poor girl herself, who in her own sphere of life 
may perhaps be possessed of every praiseworthy 
virtue. 

Here again the line of distinction between girls of 
this class in Europe and in the East is immeasurably 
wide. This same Druse girl, whose notions of every- 
thing are so limited, and who in all probability does 
not possess one-tenth of the learning and understand- 
ing of even the peasant's daughter, who may have 
been taught to read and write, and is in every respect 



AN ACCOMPLISHED FASHIONABLE. 



121 



an accomplished housewife, — this Druse girl might 
flutter and tremble a little at her first introduction 
into the blaze of fashion and etiquette ; yet, believe 
me, five minutes would not elapse before she would be 
perfectly herself again, and feel as completely at 
home as she does now seated in her father's court- 
yard. Nay more than this ; her natural airs of 
elegance are such, her refinement of feeling so great, 
that the first belle of the season might even suffer a 
twinge of jealousy at the bewitching manners and 
courtesy of this wild maid of the Lebanon. 

And should it so happen, that my Lady Fiddlefaddle 
were to take a liking to the Druse, and condescend 
to make her her protegee, undertake to initiate the 
Lebanon maid into the minutise of aristocratic 
etiquette, acting as her chaperon and friend upon 
all occasions, then, rely upon it, one month's tuition 
will see our Druse girl an accomplished fashionable, 
eschewing cheese and onions, and other unheard-of 
abominations, familiar to her in her native country, — 
fainting at the very mention of garlic, which she is 
exceedingly fond of in her natural state, — and, in 
short, coming out a finished young lady, full of all 
the bewitching charms and elegant deportment of 
her instructress, adding to this the delightful naive 
style of her wild mountain sisterhood, and ultimately 
causing heartburns and jealousies without number, 
even cutting out Lady Fiddlefaddle herself amongst 
the most recherche' beaux. 



122 



WINDOWS OF THE MIND. 



With the Druse girl the eyes are literally the 
windows of the mind, reflecting on her understanding 
everything she looks upon with an indelible stamp ; 
she has only to see to comprehend. Immediately and 
so soon as the light of knowledge begins to penetrate 
through these windows of the mind, dormant energy 
and talent, which are lying fast asleep within, wake 
up and bestir themselves, getting so active at last that 
they are perpetually peeping out for the purpose of 
gleaning information. 

Now all this may be set down by the reader as an 
exaggerated picture, drawn by an over-fervid imagina- 
tion ; but the result of such a trial, should it ever 
be put to the test, would rather exceed than fall 
short of the imaginary speculation. Men from these 
very parts, possessed of one-tenth the ordinary in- 
tellect of the women, have by the merest chance and 
hazard, been flung into the very vortex of fashionable 
society. Their picturesque costumes, their beards 
and moustache, and their naturally free and easy 
manners, have at once stamped them amongst un- 
tra veiled denizens, as aristocrats and princes of a 
lineal descent. 

Their own insufficiency and naturally-retiring dis- 
position have, in some instances, shrunk with terror 
from the honors heaped them ; in others, there has 
not been so honest a display of bashfulness. But in 
either case it has suited the humour and inclination 
of lion hunters ; and the man of unpretending 



LIONS OF SOCIETY. 



123 



pedigree, whose juvenile ambition in his fatherland 
was to arrive at years of maturity, that he might 
take charge of his father's caravans of mules and 
donkeys, has been suddenly, much to his astonishment, 
transformed into some incognito, — a learned prince, or 
descendant of the sheiks, — and been perfectly over- 
whelmed with civilities and titles. 

To secure the prince's attendance at a ball or 
a dinner party, to make him one of the party at the 
opera, to solicit his honoring some venerable society 
by becoming a member or an associate, to confer 
upon him diplomas and degrees, — these have been a 
source of contention amidst the distinguished and 
learned of civilised lands. Even the very Lord Mayor 
himself, in his state carriage, might be proud to 
have such a lion rampant upon his coach-box. Yet, 
to the honor of their discretion and natural intellect 
be it said, these subjects of fortune's frolics escaped 
being put into Hanwell or Bedlam, which is saying 
a very great deal indeed for the force of their moral 
intellect. 

Few men in Europe, suddenly transferred from 
similar spheres, could resist the intoxicating influence 
of so great honors and so much civility ; neither in 
their intercourse with their superiors in birth, educa- 
tion, and talent, could these have refrained from 
breaking out into flagrant vices, and showing at once 
the truth of the proverb which says : " What is bred 
in the bone will not come out of the flesh." That 



124 



THE ENGLISH NATION. 



these lions of fashionable society passed through the 
ordeal unscathed, and even with honor and credit to 
themselves, is only the more flattering to all classes 
and natives inhabiting the East, and is a convincing 
proof of the feasibility of the problem respecting the 
Druse girl ; for most assuredly some of them were of 
the lowest Syrian origin, yet in their every -day inter- 
course with polished and educated men they neither 
said nor did anything contrary to what is supposed to 
constitute a gentleman. 

Whilst our imagination has been flitting over so 
large a field, and even gone uninvited to my Lady 
Fid dlefad die's ball, the beautiful theme which gave 
rise to these vagaries has been patiently and demurely 
seated by our side. The Druse father has accomplished 
his hour's siesta, and comes forth invigorated, ready to 
smoke one pipe and have a little chat with us before 
returning to his labour. 

He asks us with an incredible air whether it is 
really a fact that the English people are governed by a 
lady, and his daughter turns aside her head listening 
attentively for our answer. When we tell the old 
Druse that the English nation are proud of and glory 
in the wisdom and excellence of their Queen, he is 
struck dumb with astonishment ; he cannot conceive 
how any woman, in all the long catalogue from Eve 
downwards, could be capable of managing the affairs 
of government, of holding the tiller of the vessel of 
state; and when we tell him that our Queen is 



THE QUEEN. 



125 



learned in language and science, and is as deeply read 
as any man in the kingdom, then the Druse thinks 
it high time to be off. " Allah, Allah ! " he says, 
" what will the world come to, when women have the 
supremacy over man V 

The daughter, on the contrary, seems delighted with 
the notion, as she takes our hand and shakes it fer- 
vently, exclaiming with all the pathos of feeling, 
" How happy your women must be ! " — another proof 
that she would shine like a star resplendent, if cul- 
tured on a congenial soil, and ushered into society 
under the patronage of my Lady Fiddlefaddle. 



126 



CHAPTER X. 

SINGULAR PHENOMENON — A STURDY MESSENGER — HAMMOOD's SONG 
ORIENTAL VERSE — OLD ENGLISH DITTY — THE HOSPITABLE 
HIGHLANDER — PAMPHLETS AND NEWSPAPERS — INCIDENTS OF 
LONG-PAST YEARS — THE "TIMES" NEWSPAPER — " PUNCH" ON 
MOUNT LEBANON — A SILK FACTORY — EUROPEAN MACHINERY — 
PROFITABLE CHANCE — ARTIFICIAL PRECIPICE — DEPARTURE FROM 
THE FACTORY. 

How carols now the lusty muleteer ? 

Of love, romance, devotion is his lay, 

As whilome he was wont the leagues to cheer, 

His quick bells wildly jingling on the way. 

Childe Harold. 

The afternoon breeze is whistling merrily through 
the leafy boughs and over mountain-top as we rise up 
from our prolonged reverie and conversation. The 
Druse's daughter is called away by manifold household 
duties, and the whole village awakes to the bustle and 
activity of life from the drowsy lethargy of the hours 
devoted to the siesta. 

We mount our nags and ride away in uncertain 
search of novelty and amusement. One thing is 
certain, that wherever our horses choose to lead us 
there will be abundance of food for the imagination, 
for every turning reveals fresh pictures and wild moun- 



SINGULAR PHENOMENON. 



127 



tain scenery, and there is no spot amongst the hills 
that is not worthy of more than passing observation. 

All around, and echoed from bush to bush, is the 
perpetual note of the merry cricket, and the sweeter 
song of feathered warblers; then again wild flowers 
and strange but little-known plants surround us on 
every side, whilst the mineralogist, as well as the 
botanist, has only to stoop as he passes along to gather 
the rarest specimens of each peculiar science. 

Amongst other things, constituting a singular phe- 
nomenon in themselves, we pass several petrified 
substances, which at first present no prepossessing or 
attractive appearance, but which, on being cleared of 
the dust and earth with which they are incrusted, 
present to us a perfect ball of a size similar to that of 
a cricket ball. Take up one of these and fling it with 
all your force against the nearest rock, it is shattered 
into atoms, being extremely fragile, but these separate 
atoms glitter like diamonds, and consist of innumerable 
sharp-pointed flakes of what may have probably been 
water frozen or incrustations of snow. The substance 
however, is in its present condition as hard and as 
brittle as crystal. 

Soon after emerging upon one of the high roads of 
the mountain, we encounter a hot and dusty messenger 
coming from Beyrout and carrying letters and parcels 
for a gentleman who has a silk-reeling factory distant 
about two hours' ride from this spot, and erected at a 
village of some note. Hammood, for so is the trusty 



128 



A STURDY MESSENGER. 



messenger called, is an old acquaintance of our own, 
and as we have nothing better to do, and nowhere in 
particular to go, we accede to his proposal of accom- 
panying him to the factory in question. 

Delighted at the prospect of having such eligible 
company to beguile his tedious trajet, the sturdy mes- 
senger rides on before us with renewed energies, never 
stopping, but pointing out, as he passes on, the most 
striking features of the surrounding landscape ; hooting 
after frightened jackals as they start away from their 
lairs, firing pistols at partridges that are far beyond 
the reach of danger, and waking up echoes with his 
snatches of Syrian love songs, as he carefully guides his 
steed over the intricate and sometimes slippery moun- 
tain path. 

In his own estimation this messenger is a renowned 
personage; he has been nearly twenty years in the 
service of Franks, and on the strength of this considers 
himself almost a naturalised Frank. It would take a 
large slate and wear away a good slate pencil, to note 
down in round numbers the times he has gone back- 
wards and forwards between Beyrout and this factory ; 
and goodly volumes of romance and chivalry might be 
indited from his tale of exploits and adventures. 

Expert in drawing the long bow and fertile of 
imagination, marvellous indeed are the exploits that 
he records of his own prowess, and wonderful the hair- 
breadth escapes he has had. Were we strangers, in 
lieu of being well acquainted with these parts, we 



HAM MOOD'S SONG. 



129 



might be led to believe that a band of ruthless ruffians 
infested these localities, in place of the peaceful Druses 
and Maronites. Having our own convictions, however, 
we trot along contentedly after our garrulous guide, 
only laughing at his incidents or adventure; or 
imploring him to cease that wretched screaming, when 
he indulges us with a specimen of his vocal powers. 

La tidrubne f'll cobcab, 

Aman, g'hanem! 
La tidrubne f'll taboot, 

Walla, billa! 
Ana doste il arnaout 

Aman, Aman! 
A'kshan ghel, saba ghel, 
Shindi ghel, herghun ghel, 

Ya ganem ghel! 

Thus lustily, and with stentorian lungs, shouts our 
indefatigable guide, as in the singular metaphor of the 
wild verse he is singing, he imagines himself some love- 
stricken damsel whose object of affection is a sprucely- 
attired but ruthless arnaout or Albanian soldier. And 
the meaning of the song is after all nonsense, for she 
implores this ruthless deceiver not to strike her with 
his wooden slipper, whilst she loudly acknowledges, 
and that with not very becoming oaths, that none but 
the soldier is the object of her choice ; and so she 
finally adjures him to come to her by all means "by 
night or by day, at the present, for the future, and 
always." 

As is usual in these common- place love ditties, the 

K 



130 



ORIENTAL VERSE. 



Arabs are not over particular as to what doggrel rhyme 
they use, nor are they at all scrupulous as to the sense 
or romance of the terms they apply, so long as they 
rhyme and make something like verse. As, for 
instance, in the present song, it is hard to say why a 
forlorn maiden should associate a wooden slipper with 
a sprucely-attired arnaout, who either has no shoes at 
all to his feet, or if he can afford such a luxury, 
invariably sports red leather slippers or boots. The 
same subterfuge for verse is prevalent amongst the 
Turks; as, for instance, in the case of another song 
with which our music-stricken Hammood indulges us, 
and which commences 

Aman di wa, ya di wana, 
Doldor bena, bir finjana. 

Here the poet, who commenced with the usual flow of 
inspiration from the muses by beseeching his lady-love 
to fill him a goblet (or more properly speaking, a 
finjan) of something good to drink, being at a loss for 
a word to rhyme with finjand, and with supreme con- 
tempt for sense and grammar, makes the second stanza 
conclude with hatinjand, signifying a vegetable only 
eatable when cooked. 

Now had this unromantic bard even alluded to 
cucumbers, though still persisting in an outrage against 
romance, we and all persons who have long resided in 
the East could have readily comprehended the con- 
necting link; for all Orientals, when indulging in a 



ARABIAN DISSONANCE. 



131 



finjan of raki, more especially the Turks, invariably 
eat raw cucumbers as a modifier to ardent spirits. 

But to return to ourselves, it is with difficulty that 
we can persuade this inveterate songster that so peculiar 
is the organisation of European tympanums, however 
delightful to native-born Syrians the music may appear, 
to ourselves it is perfect martyrdom. Eather dis- 
heartened at such a rebuff, yet too jovial and good- 
natured to resent it by any appearance of sulkiness, 
the renowned Hammood, for renowned we discover him 
to be, launches forth suddenly and unexpectedly into 
very good English nursery rhyme, and sings us in tune, 
words correct, but pronunciation rather droll, the well- 
known song, 

" Where are you going to, my pretty maid," etc. 

With hearty good- will we join in the chorus, and 
perhaps for the first time, through many years, the 
echoes of the Lebanon wake up to our old English 
ditty. 

Thus pleasantly and merrily we jog along, heedless 
of time and space, till by and by an abrupt turning 
brings us in sight of the factory. Only then we 
remember that two hours have elapsed since we first 
encountered our guide, and during this interval we 
have placed not less than five miles between ourselves 
and the home of our Druse friend: these reflections 
incline us without loss of time to turn our horses' 

K 2 



132 



THE HOSPITABLE HIGHLANDER. 



heads and go back as we came ; but before such a reso- 
lution could be put into execution, the hospitable 
proprietor of the factory has espied us, and as the 
advent of two Europeans and acquaintances is a rare 
occurrence and a perfect windfall in these secluded 
parts, emissaries are immediately despatched from the 
factory to invite us to alight, with strict orders in case 
of our refusal, to seize upon the horses' bridles, and 
drag us there nolens volens. We have no alternative, 
so, proceeding to the factory door, we alight and are 
ushered in ; in two minutes afterwards our hands are 
seized in the cordial grasp of welcome, and the 
hospitable Highlander, who leads a recluse's life in the 
pursuit of his avocation, overwhelms us with courtesy 
and kindness. 

Whilst we are reposing and refreshing ourselves, the 
inmates of the factory are deep in the perusal of letters 
and papers brought up by the messenger who has so 
faithfully and agreeably acted the part of guide to our- 
selves. None but those who have experienced it can 
appreciate the extreme pleasure enjoyed by those who, 
from force of circumstances, or from choice, are exiles 
from home and friends, when occasions present them- 
selves of communicating, though it be only through the 
medium of a letter or newspaper, with lands and people 
separated from them by many a mile of fathomless 
ocean. 

Here, in the utter seclusion of the mountains, where 
men live only for living's sake, or to reap a competency 



PAMPHLETS AND NEWSPAPERS. 



133 



that may prove a sufficient harvest against the autumn 
of life, — business, and business exclusively, may be said 
to occupy the energies of body and mind ; and these 
find ample occupation during the eight or ten hours 
devoted each week-day to such pursuit ; but if there is 
anything that hangs heavily upon hand, it is the hours 
between sunset and bed-time. 

No European, however willing to accede in all other 
points to the manners and customs and habits of the 
people he is constrained to dwell among, can accustom 
himself to the early-to-bed usages of these people. He 
cannot, in common with the Druse and the Maronite, 
go to bed with the first shades of nightfall and rise 
again with the lark ; his education has taught him to 
require some mental recreation, and the only time he 
has to indulge in this is when the stern duty of the day 
is over, and his thoughts may relax from the perpetual 
strain put upon them. 

Then it is that books and pamphlets and newspapers 
are an invaluable resource: the greatest bookworm in 
the world never derived more intrinsic worth and 
amusement from the perusal of printed information 
than does the European recluse in the East. To him 
even the advertisement sheet of the Times is a fountain 
head, an endless stream for the imagination to swim 
upon; the names of streets, the multifarious wants of 
the hundred advertisers, the lost or stolen, the cautions 
or beseechings, the " should this meet the eye of,"- — 
in short, from the word "Supplement" down to the 



134 



NEWS FROM ENGLAND. 



printer's name in the last corner, is the skeleton of a 
theme which the active imagination of the long-absent 
Briton works up rapidly and ingeniously into a splendid 
essay, with connecting links that no one else would 
ever think or dream of. 

The incidents of long-past years, the later occurrences 
of life in London, the gap since the last cab drove him 
to the railway station, and the last train deposited him 
near Southampton docks, and an indistinct glimmering 
of hope penetrating through the hazy uncertainty of 
futurity into time yet unborn, when, if life be spared 
and all go well, he hopes once again to hear the echo 
of his own footsteps rattling over the pavement of well- 
known streets; — all these strung together constitute 
a long and happy theme of quiet contemplation, till 
growing drowsy over the subject, the paper drops from 
his hands, the recluse starts up and awakes, and the 
stern reality of his present position is glaring upon him 
from all sides, painted upon the paperless walls of the 
room he then sits in upon Lebanon. 

If such be the results from the perusal of a mere 
supplement, it may readily be conceived how the mind 
feasts upon letters teeming with affection, and full of 
incident only amusing or entertaining to those for 
whose private perusal they are intended. 

In the present instance, we take good care not to 
interrupt by word or gesture the quiet but intense 
pleasure of those who are now perusing letters from 
their distant homes ; but they, on their side, too 



THE "TIMES" NEWSPAPER. 



135 



courteous by far to neglect their guests, simply skim 
over the contents so as to satisfy themselves that 
all goes right, and then these letters are re-folded 
and left for more leisurely perusal in the quiet 
seclusion of their own rooms. Not so, however, 
the newspapers, — bundle upon bundle of which are 
tumbled out of the messenger's sack, opened and glanced 
over with exclamations of surprise or delight, as some 
incident or picture rivets for a moment the attention 
of the inspector. 

Here we have the Times newspaper, with the latest 
intelligence from the seat of war ; which, strange as it 
may appear, taking the relative positions of the 
countries into consideration, is really news for the 
mountains. Casting his eye upon such another para- 
graph as that which details the recent narrow escape 
of the czar from being captured, the proprietor, in the 
height of his loyalty and delight, takes off his hat and 
flings it in the air, shouting out the while the intelli- 
gence of this fact to his friend and clerk, who is only 
half a yard distant from where he stands, occupied at 
the moment in poring over the pages of the Illustrated 
Neivs. The amiable wife of our host takes exclusive 
possession of the Ladies' Newspaper, whilst the loving 
partner of the clerk is extolling to the skies a beautiful 
engraving of the Crystal Palace at Sydenham. 

Amongst the mass of papers that strew the table 
we recognise many old faces. The Economist, the 
Examiner, and last, though by no means least, that 



136 



"PUNCH" ON MOUNT LEBANON. 



incomparable fellow, Punch; but this is kept as a 
bonne bouche for the evening, when all the other papers 
have been glanced over and thrown aside for future pe- 
rusal; then lights are introduced, and our host, seating 
himself at the head of the table, unfolds the pages of 
wit. The first illustration is something connected with 
the war; the figures are irresistibly droll and ludicrous, 
ami the costumes so complete that even the old servant, 
who has not much notion of drawings in general, 
recognises a Turk as figuring in the tableaux, and 
immediately exclaims, Walla haida il Sultan, " truly 
that is the padishah," for in his estimation none but 
crowned heads or potentates could lay claim to the 
distinguished honour of being represented in an English 
journal. 

It is too late, even had we the desire, to take a stroll 
over the factory itself, but with the assistance of a 
f anna I, we just peep into the reeling-room, and examine 
the magazines where the cocoons and the silk are 
stored, before returning to our Druse's house. The 
machinery is very complete, and all of the best European 
manufacture; perhaps, the last thing in the world that 
one might expect to meet in these desolate and soli- 
tary regions would be what we here find, — the most 
complete, and the latest contrivances of art and 
science. 

Our host tells us that when the machinery was first 
set up, he was permitted no peace of mind or quiet, 
from the fact of all the neighbouring villages pouring 



A SILK FACTORY. 



137 



in in shoals to witness the marvellous force and 
grandeur of steam, and the not less wonderful purposes 
which a simple stream of water could be brought to 
serve. 

It was impossible, at first, to keep the people from 
touching or meddling with the machinery in full play, 
Nothing could persuade them of the immense power of 
the engine in full play ; nor was it till they had ample 
demonstration of the fact, by beams of wood thrust 
into the revolving wheels being spun round as though 
they were feathers, that they could form some faint 
conception of the peril they incurred by meddling with 
them. 

Our host was willing and glad that the uneducated 
people of these parts should have ocular proof of the 
vastly superior talents of Europeans in general; he, 
therefore, endeavoured to explain item by item of the 
ponderous machinery, but finding that their curiosity 
seemed never to be gratified, the engineer was com- 
pelled to resort to an artifice, which so terrified the 
visitors that they fled in the utmost dismay, never ven- 
turing within the precincts of the reeling-room except 
when well assured that no business was going on. 

What had alarmed them so much was, the engineer 
putting on high pressure to the steam in the boiler, 
which communicated by pipes to all parts of the 
reeling- room ; through these mediums he introduced 
a vast quantity of steam into the room, so that in a 
few seconds everything was concealed and enveloped 



138 



EUROPEAN MACHINERY. 



by the most impenetrable mist; at the same time, the 
alarmed visitors, who were expecting an explosion, and 
thought that something had gone wrong in the works, 
were still more terrified and dismayed by the roaring 
of the steam as it was let off through the safety-valve 
of the boiler ; so that scrambling to the doorways, as 
best they could, they scampered away towards home, 
and never stopped to look back until they considered 
themselves beyond the reach of harm. 

The benefit both in time and quality resulting from 
the introduction of these factories into the mountains 
has been very great. By the assistance of one tourbin, 
or water-wheel, from forty to two hundred reels are 
set in motion, revolving at greater or less rapidity 
according to the option of the engineer; and the 
machinery is so constructed that any single reeler who 
breaks the thread of the cocoon he is reeling, is 
instantly enabled to arrest the progress of his reel 
whilst all the others continue in motion, by setting his 
foot upon a pedal. At the same time the great 
facilities afforded to the reeler from the well-measured 
velocity of the wheel, the ready and continual supply 
of water heated to a proper temperature, the abun- 
dance of cocoons within his reach, and the rarity of 
any stoppage in the process of reeling, all these con- 
tribute in enabling the same boy or man who by the 
ordinary Syrian process of reeling could hardly produce 
twenty drachms of silk a-day, to reel off a rotolo or 
more. 



EFFECTS OF MACHINERY. 



139 



Meanwhile in every other respect a large saving is 
effected. Not only is the quality produced of more 
equal threads, finer, and more glossy, but the cocoon is 
reeled off to the very last atom of silk within the husk, 
so that, in reality, there is not lost one particle that 
is valuable ; besides this, at the season of the silk 
recolt, that is when the cocoons are freshly formed, the 
advantages derivable by using European machinery are 
great, and productive of immense profit. Before the 
cocoon is stifled it has been calculated to produce ten 
times as much silk, and of a brighter and finer quality 
than when it has been subjected to that process; but 
as the cocoons cannot be kept more than ten days, or 
a fortnight at the most, on account of the moth per- 
forating after that time and ruining their value, it 
stands to reason that the peasants who were restricted 
to their ordinary slow process of reeling could never 
hope to reel off more than two or three rotolos from 
unstiflecl cocoons. 

The consequence was an immense loss in the profits 
yielded by their gardens; it was, therefore, an 
admirable and profitable chance for the peasant when 
Europeans established factories on the mountains, and 
offered to take their whole supply of cocoons off their 
hands without putting them to the risk and trouble of 
reeling, at the same time that they received a greater 
valuation than they could ever hope to *get for their 
silk. 

Meanwhile the factories, during the height of the 



140 



ARTIFICIAL PRECIPICE. 



season, kept their two hundred reels perpetually at 
work, so that before it was absolutely necessary to 
subject the cocoons to the smothering process, they had 
reeled off thousands of rotolos of fresh ones, gaining an 
immense average per cent, upon the process. 

Our host employs, besides his European assistant, an 
English engineer, and three or four native overseers, 
who are adepts in the art of reeling, and who super- 
intend the others at work, besides assisting in airing, 
weighing, and packing the silk. Night and day, day 
and night, around this solitary abode of industry is 
heard the perpetual roar and foaming of cataracts of 
water as the stream rushes down an artificial precipice 
made for the tourbin, and thence, passing through the 
building and out into the open air, it gushes over 
another point, and so disappears in the hazy distance. 

With the exception of the utter seclusion, their 
being out of the way of the world and the world's 
news, the inmates of the factory have nothing to com- 
plain of in the way of comfort and enjoyment. Their 
own gardens afford healthy recreation, and supply all 
their wants in vegetables, fruits, and flowers; their 
poultry yard is extensive and well stocked ; the 
scenery around them is magnificent; their walks and 
rides are boundless, and always full of novelty and wild 
picturesque beauty; whilst game in abundance gives 
ample occupation for their sporting propensities when- 
ever the all-absorbing business of the factory may 
permit a day's or a week's respite from labour. Above 



DEPARTURE FROM THE FACTORY. 



141 



all, the climate is healthy, and the atmosphere pure 
and unclouded, so that saving only the want of society, 
or mental amusements, they can be said to lack 
nothing. 

The papers that have arrived this evening will afford 
them occupation for a week to come ; meanwhile some 
other adventures may drop in upon their solitude, and 
help to cast a cheerful beam upon their social in- 
clinations. But for ourselves the term of our visit has 
expired — the pale moon peeping over Lebanon, warns 
us of this fact — so thanking our friends for the hos- 
pitality and information we had obtained, we scramble 
into our saddles again, and leaving our horses to their 
natural instinct to guide them home, leisurely we 
follow upon the tract of the night breeze as it sweeps 
by us on its rapid career towards the plains and the 
distant ocean. 



142 



CHAPTER XL 

A BRIDAL PROCESSION — ARRIVAL OF THE BRIDE — BRILLIANT 
CORTEGE — JUVENILE FIAN9AILLES — DRUSE MORALITY — LOVE 
MATCHES — MARRIAGE CONTRACT — THE BRIDEGROOM — THE 
BRIDE — DISPLAY OF GRIEF-— ILLUSTRATION OF PARABLES — PRE- 
PARATIONS FOR THE MARRIAGE — ARRIVAL OF THE CAVALCADE. 

We haste — the chosen and the lovely bringing; 
Love still goes with her from her place of birth! 
Deep, silent joy, within her soul is springing, 
Though in her glance the light no more is mirth. 

Mrs. Hemans. 

Thus might sing the noisy and clamorous crew who 
burst upon our solitude and startle our horses beyond 
measure, as with torches and noisy drum, with hoot- 
ings and exclamations, and firing of musketry and 
pistols, they bear away, not to unwilling captivity, 
the newly-made bride of some happy Druse who is 
impatiently awaiting her arrival at K'farchima, the 
same village that we are returning to; we say, thus 
might they sing, only unfortunately for themselves, 
no Arabian poet has translated the verses of Mrs. 
Hemans into their vernacular, and this being the 



A BRIDAL PROCESSION. 



143 



case, they are compelled to content themselves with 
snatches of their own peculiar love ditties. 

We rein in our horses so as to suffer the riotous 
crew to pass, and as they throng by, lighted by the 
glaring flame of numerous torches, they present a 
most picturesque appearance. The vanguard of the 
procession consists of two young men, dressed in a 
bran new suit of clothes with many bright colours 
about them, who lead the way, leaping and dancing 
and shouting as they go along, and firing off their old 
fowling pieces as quickly as they can re-load them. 
These are particular friends and companions of the 
bridegroom, and they are presumed to be in as complete 
a state of felicity as the bridegroom himself. 

Next to these comes the band, consisting of a couple 
of native drums and as many primitive pipes, which 
emit a most discordant clamour, and play over the 
same bars of music full a hundred times in as many 
minutes. The drummers, however, belabour their 
instruments most unmercifully, effectually drowning 
several of the squeeling notes of the other musicians ; 
behind these, and to support their energy, runs an old 
fellow with a bottle and a glass, from which he liberally 
supplies them ever and anon ; then by twos or threes 
come from twenty to forty " shebbdbeen" young lads 
belonging to the village of the bridegroom, all of 
whom have long since sung themselves into a state of 
helpless hoarseness, but they still persist in their 
unromantic hootings, each by turn singing a line of 



144 



ARRIVAL OF THE BRIDE. 



some favourite love song, the chorus of which is taken 
up by all present, whilst the greater mass of the people 
keep time to the tune by perpetually clapping their 
hands. 

After these, approach some elders of the village, 
more sedate and grave in their deportment, but 
startling one incessantly by firing off pistols and fire- 
arms in all directions and in all attitudes, so that 
it is a perfect marvel that some in their haste do not 
forget their ramrods and shoot each other or the 
musicians. Immediately following these sages comes a 
stately charger richly caparisoned, led by two men 
with torch lights in their hands, and surrounded by a 
number of men and women on foot ; seated on top 
of this charger is something wrapped up in a loose 
large white sheet, whose ends trail down to the ground 
and whose folds conceal from vulgar gaze the beautiful 
bride, who is supposed to be elegantly attired and 
decked with jewellery and flowers, but who might be 
represented by a doll, or a monkey, or anything else, 
for all we can swear to the contrary. The only person 
who would have proof of the identity of the bride 
with this bundle of white cloth, is the expectant bride- 
groom himself. 

After the bride has passed, come three or four more 
nondescripts mounted on horses and mules of less pre- 
tensions, and these carry before them on their saddles 
large bundles supposed to contain the wardrobe and 
jewellery of the bride, and which they would fain 



BRILLIANT CORTEGE. 



145 



make us believe to consist of valuables to a fabulous 
amount, but the real cost of which might without 
any great difficulty be estimated, and found not 
to exceed some three pounds sterling. After these 
bearers of the bride's wardrobe come a number of 
stragglers, principally old women, from all the sur- 
rounding villages, whose withered old faces would be 
very becoming to the usual veil carried by women, but 
who eschew this disdainfully. 

In passing us these old hags give us a cheer after 
their own fashion, and this they accomplish by passing 
their forefinger very rapidly over their under lips, 
screeching in the meanwhile vehemently through their 
closed teeth ; the sound produced is not at all unlike the 
gabbling of a dozen turkey cocks, and the pride and 
boast of these old creatures is to keep up their cry the 
longest. 

A good deal of dust is all that remains of the 
brilliant cortege on the mountain road ; so spurring on 
our horses again we follow closely on their track, 
determined if possible to add to the happiness of the 
bridegroom by honoring him with our society for the 
remainder of the evening. As there will be nothing 
novel in the spectacle until we come within hearing of 
the bridegroom's house, we call a straggler to our 
assistance and ask him to give us all the information 
he is possessed of respecting any peculiarities which 
constitute the ceremonial of a Druse marriage, or what 
precedes or takes place subsequent to the wedding. 

L 



14(5. 



JUVENILE FIANCAILLES. 



He tells us that the Druses, unlike the Turks, 
content themselves with one wife, and that thej usually 
marry soon after arriving at manhood, choosing also a 
bride who has but just entered womanhood. Some 
instances occur, however, of parties being betrothed by 
their parents whilst yet in perfect infancy, and then if 
both parties survive until they are grown up they are 
immediately married. No tie can be more binding or 
sacred with the Druse than the promise of marriage. 
In the long intercourse which sometimes ensues before 
the children have grown up and the promise can be 
accomplished, many incidents occur which amongst 
other people and countries would be all-sufficient to 
render null and void these juvenile fianqailles. 

But among the Druses this is never the case; the 
fathers and boys and girls, instigated either by friend- 
ship or by a wish mutually to strengthen and enrichen 
their families, and with that peculiar clanship which in 
some instances renders them so similar to the ancient 
Highlanders, make these betrothals with the certainty 
that, come what may, if the life of the parties betrothed 
only be spared, they will assuredly be eventually united. 
And so sacred does a young Druse consider the duty of 
obedience to his parent's wishes, that though that parent 
may have been long dead and buried by the time he 
arrives at manhood, or though in the intercourse of 
childhood he may have taken a dislike to the future 
partner destined to share his joys and sorrows; though 
he may fancy many of his neighbours' daughters, more 



DRUSE MORALITY. 



147 



beautiful, more comely, and better adapted to link with 
his fate, yet he will in no wise deviate from the pro- 
mise made during his infancy. And more than this, 
being compelled by the force of honest morality to cast 
his lot with one whom he would never have chosen 
had the choice been left to himself, he is above resent- 
ing his mishap upon the head of the innocent and 
harmless cause of his dislike ; but on the contrary, will 
sink all thoughts connected with other happiness on 
the day of his marriage, and at once concentrate his 
affection and esteem upon her whom the fates have 
allotted him as wife and friend 

It sometimes happens that even greater obstacles 
than those above recounted are thrown in the way of 
young people thus affianced in their childhood. Fortune 
may have dealt hardly with one or both of their 
families, poverty and destitution may be staring them 
in the face; yet though tempting offers may be thrown 
in the way of the friends on either side, though all the 
parties who were witnesses to the promise given at 
betrothal may have been swept from the earth, still 
the girl and the boy, and their neighbours around 
them, have been taught to consider each as destined 
for the other; and though the time and their union 
may be necessarily delayed, till by labour or the assist- 
ance of friends they can accumulate that pittance 
indispensable for the ceremonials attendant upon an 
Eastern wedding, they ultimately accomplish their end ; 
and very rarely indeed can it be said of a Druse and 

l 2 



148 



LOVE MATCHES. 



his wife that they disagree and are unhappy, as is 
unfortunately too frequently the case with man and 
wife in more civilised and more enlightened lands. 

But leaving these exceptional cases aside we return 
to the usual routine of Druse love matches and 
marriages. The greater mass of people leave their boys 
and girls to grow up unshackled by any promises or 
vows until they reach the age of maturity. 

Meanwhile the boys and girls have played together 
without any restraint upon their actions or thoughts, 
and it usually happens before they arrive at that age 
when stern necessity requires that they should no longer 
freely communicate and converse with each other, 
young men and maidens have long since secretly formed 
their respective likes and dislikes; and when the subject 
of marriage is brought upon the tapis, the young man, 
whom it most concerns, generally throws out a hint to 
his parents which leads them with least trouble where 
to seek for a bride for their son. 

Of course there are some instances, for even amongst 
the Druses the course of true love never did run 
smoothly, in which the girl has been already bespoken, 
and the fond youth is destined to disappointment; but 
when this is the case, then the matter is handed over 
entirely to the mother, the party most concerned only 
premising, as a sine qua non, that the girl, whoever she 
be, must be young and beautiful. 

When these preliminaries have been arranged, then 
three days before the time fixed for the celebration of 



MARRIAGE CONTRACT. 



149 



the wedding, the young man assembles together all the 
youths of the village, and picking out of these the finest 
and handsomest looking men, makes them arm them- 
selves cap d pied, and himself a perfect armory of 
warlike weapons heading them, he proceeds in regular 
procession to the house of the father of his future 
bride, who, on his side, having duly received intimation 
of the fact, arms himself and his household also, and 
stands at the threshold of the door to receive him, 
demanding in words similar to Scott's celebrated 
song,— 

" O come ye in peace here, or come ye in war, 
Or to dance at our bridal, young Lord Lochinvar?" 

Here in the presence of the assembled villagers, and after 
loud discussion, the final articles of the marriage con- 
tract are settled and agreed to ; the bride's father, who 
possesses some portion of that love of gain so inherent 
amongst Eastern nations, usually adds a few piastres, 
or a sheep or two, to what was originally contemplated 
as the valuation of the bride. 

But the young man, who is impatient to gain the 
final consent, and who moreover remembers that 
" nunhey pays for me" that his father will bear the 
cost of expenses, usually agrees to the compact ; it is 
then agreed as a secondary matter of consideration, 
what dowry is to be settled by the young man upon 
the bride herself; but this is merely a fictitious 
arrangement, for such a thing as pin money is unknown 
amongst Druse married ladies. 



150 



THE BRIDEGROOM. 



This point adjusted, the young man solemnly declares 
and promises to the family to protect and love his 
future wife ; then the betrothed girl veiled over from 
head to foot, and accompanied by her nearest female 
relatives, is brought to the door, and her lover asks her, 
in a distinct voice, that all-important question which 
settles the destinies of so many poor mortals on earth. 
As a matter of course the girl replies in the affirmative, 
but at the same time she presents him, in token of her 
future obedience, with a dagger carefully sewn up in a 
woollen scarf of her own manufacture, and which she 
has many days, nay years previously, knitted inch by 
inch, as she pictured up in her childish imagination the 
realization of this happy hour, when the bold lover 
should come to ask her for this token. It is to be 
hoped that the husband may never have occasion to 
unrip the threads which conceal this sharp-edged tool 
from sight, for among the Druses it is supposed that he 
will only resort to it in order to protect his wife from 
some murderous assault, or to satiate the hateful passion 
of jealousy. 

This much having been accomplished, the father 
invites the future bridegroom, and all his friends, to 
enter into his house and pass the remainder of the day 
in joyful celebration of the happy event. But the 
Druses, like other natives of Syria, have no notions of 
anything proving amusing or exhilarating unless there 
be a good deal of noise upon the subject ; accordingly 
a drum is borrowed from one of the neighbours, and the 



THE BRIDE. 



151 



young men, seating themselves in a circle, and being 
supplied with pipes and coffee ad libitum, commence 
the proceedings of the day by a boisterous outburst of 
mirth and revelry; most of them sing, others dance, 
whilst the drum is being incessantly tatooed as it goes 
round, changed from hand to hand. Now and then, 
when a lull occurs, some of them load their guns and 
waste a good deal of powder in noise ; others, who are 
good horsemen, amuse themselves and terrify the old 
people of the village, by tearing up and down at the 
utmost speed their horses can attain, interchanging 
showers of wooden lances, or suddenly throwing their 
horses upon their haunches whilst suddenly gallopping 
along at full speed. 

Meanwhile the bride, who disappeared immediately 
after her public interview with her future husband, has 
been taken away by her female relatives to the nearest 
bath, and there in company with them, and as many 
other women as can well obtain admittance, they pass 
the remainder of the day in the fish-like amusement of 
splashing each other with water, undergoing the whole 
process of purification, and filling up idle moments by 
the most dismal and lamentable bowlings — a source of 
unspeakable gratification to all the old women of the 
village, who, like kindred evil spirits, take up the howl 
and echo it from house to house. 

There is nothing in this world that affords an old 
Arab woman more intense relish than the opportunities 
which now and then present themselves for indulging 



152 



DISPLAY OF GRIEF. 



in lamentations. They have always a ready howl where- 
with to display their sympathy; and in the houses of the 
sick or dying, in the abodes where calamity has entered, 
when some one is going upon a long journey, or when, as 
upon the present occasion, a young girl is about to quit 
for good and all the paternal roof, though, perhaps, she 
may be going to live only next door : in short, upon 
all occasions, where a proper display of regret or grief 
is deemed indispensable, these old women congregate, 
and give lusty aid to the melancholy scene. There is 
no occasion hereto send for hired mourners; indeed, so 
great is their partiality to wailing and lamentation, 
that they would eagerly pay a premium to enjoy the 
privilege of a howl. The ceremoDies above recorded 
are repeated on two successive days, except that the 
bride does not again make herself visible to her future 
lord. 

At last the auspicious morning for the celebration of 
the marriage arrives ; stout preparations are early on 
foot at the house of the bridegroom ; women are busy 
washing up and scrubbing the floor, and arranging mats, 
cushions, etc., against the reception of the expected 
guests, and these guests are supposed to consist of all 
and every one who like to present themselves to par- 
take of the hospitality or join in the revelry, it being 
always understood that these people do make their 
appearance in their best holiday attire ; and this seems 
to have been a custom prevalent ever since the days 
of our Saviour, all over the Holy Land and Syria. As 



ILLUSTRATIONS OF PARABLES. 



153 



in the parable, the guest who presented himself at the 
wedding feast without a wedding garment, was instantly 
cast out and expelled, so at the present day it would 
be looked upon and resented as an insult if any labourer 
made his appearance without donning his best holiday 
attire. 

Then, again, an apt illustration of another parable; it is 
still the duty of the lord of the feast to assign to those who 
honour him with their presence, a position in his house, 
or a seat on his divan, according to their respective claims 
to consideration. Thus in the outer courts are invariably 
to be encountered the poorer classes of inhabitants, all 
served with equal liberality and profusion, but none 
permitted to enter into the precincts of the house itself, 
except it be on servile errands ; while in the interior, 
those admissible to distinction are ranged with par- 
ticular care and precision along the room, the most 
honourable guests being seated at the top and near the 
master of the house himself, and those of least preten- 
sion nearest to the door of entry. 

Large cauldrons, destined to boil sacks full of burghol 
and rice into pilaufs, are set upon a dozen fires, and 
allowed to heat against the hour of need. Pyramids of 
cheese and fruits, labyrinths of vegetables, oceans of 
sour milk, whole detachments of slaughtered poultry, 
and one or two truculent old sheep, fattened, slaugh- 
tered, and ready-skinned for the occasion, are all 
to be met with, jumbled up in confusion, in the small 
room allotted to culinary purposes. Stuffing, roast- 



154 PREPARATIONS FOR THE MARRIAGE. 

ing, and stewing, will keep the women's hands full of 
work till close upon dinner time ; but in addition to 
all this, there is a vast quantity of sweetmeats to be 
prepared, coffee to be ground, tobacco to be cut, 
and tumbac to be washed and prepared, all ready 
against the frequent calls that will be made for them 
when the guests have assembled; so that nobody in the 
house, perhaps the bridegroom only excepted, can be 
said to enjoy a sinecure office that day; and the children 
and the cats will be guilty of more pilfering, and 
subjected to more castigations, than has ever been 
heard of in that house since the memorable occasion of 
feasting and rejoicing which was held here, when all 
the neighbours came to congratulate the father upon 
the birth of that son who is now about to become a 
married man himself. 

All the available pipes and narghiles that can be 
mustered in the village, have been borrowed for this 
evening's entertainment ; so that our friend Abou Shein, 
who was compelled to lend his only pipe, has been 
suffering a martyrdom since we parted with him at 
mid-day for the want of his usual solace. The pots are 
bubbling and smoking away fiercely in the kitchen ; the 
whole roasted sheep scientifically stuffed with ever so 
many pounds of rice, well seasoned with divers ingre- 
dients, scents the whole atmosphere round and makes the 
old man, the bridegroom's father, wish it was time to 
dish up : finally, the twenty cooks in the kitchen pass 
the word that everything has been cooked and is ready. 



ARRIVAL OF THE CAVALCADE. 



155 



Just at that moment, though we are wholly uncon- 
scious of the fact, the noise of our cavalcade reaches 
the expectant ears of the inmates of the bridegroom's 
house ; immediately a faint outcry and the sound of 
distant fire arms is wafted over the night air. They 
have espied our approach and now they come rushing 
out, a multitude with torches and acclamations, and 
frequent feu de pie to welcome the bride to her future 
home. Nearer and louder the noises swell upon the 
air, the dancers of our party fling themselves about in 
the wildest and most grotesque attitudes, and the 
gabbling of our old women surpasses a legion of 
turkeys. Like two mighty torrents let loose from 
their embankments, the advancing parties surge and 
roll on mightily with increasing strife and outcry, till 
finally the two crowds merge into one vast multitude, 
and the shouting and the revelry are deafening beyond 
description. 

At this point, having arrived at the outskirts of the 
village, we turn our horses' heads, and leaving the 
noisy procession arrive at the house of our Druse 
host ; but there is no sleep or slumber for our eyelids 
to-night. Abou Shein has been waiting impatiently 
with urgent invitations from the bridegroom and his 
father, so we have barely dismounted from our jaded 
animals before we are ushered into the house, where 
mirth and festivity are the order of the night. 



156 



CHAPTER XII. 

FESTAL SCENE — A DRUSE ORATOR AND POET — CHORUS OF ARAB 
WOMEN — IMPROVISATION — COMPLIMENTARY ADDRESS — DRUSE 
AMBITION — THE DINNER — ARABIAN DANCE — THE BRIDE — THE 
BRIDAL CHAMBER— CONCLUSION OF THE WEDDING FESTIVITIES 
— SUPERSTITION. 

Les yeux baisses, elle marche couverte d'un voile ; sa contenance 
est digne et modeste. 

La Jerusalem Delivree. 
[Traduction & Auguste Desplaces.) 

An excessive lurid glare rises from a hundred 
torch-lights, shining palpably against the darkness 
of night ; this is where the wedding guests are 
assembled. As we enter upon the scene of con- 
viviality, a most enlivening spectacle presents itself. 
Huge pitch torches, fixed into iron stands, which are 
stuck in the ground, serve to illuminate almost the 
whole village, and the multitude which conducted the 
bride to the threshold of her future home, having 
handed her over to careful old duennas, have scattered 
themselves over the building and in the courtyard, 



FESTAL SCENE. 



157 



and taken up the positions allotted to their respective 
ranks. All these are squatted upon the ground, 
occupied in a busy hum of conversation. As we enter, 
preceded by our host, they immediately rise to their 
feet as a mark of respect to European guests ; and the 
bridegroom and his father come out to meet us, and 
conduct us to the chief seat of honour, at the upper 
end of the principal room, where we repose upon a 
divan side by side with the lord of the feast. 

We have scarcely seated ourselves and accepted 
the proferred narghiles, when we are saluted by a 
tremendous gabbling proceeding from all the assembled 
old women, who are standing outside the door. No 
sooner has this clamour subsided for a while, than a 
young Druse, who is looked upon as the orator and 
poet of the village, and who is possessed of handsome 
features and a commanding figure, steps out into the 
centre of the hall and commences a laudatory address, 
full of the flowers of rhetoric, and intended as a high 
compliment to ourselves, the bridegroom, and the 
master of the house. He speaks in a clear, distinct, 
and musical voice ; but the intonations are those 
usually adopted by all Orientals in reading or reciting 
poetry, and his speech on the present occasion is 
extempore blank verse. As he reaches the end of each 
line he lays peculiarly strong emphasis upon the last 
word, and at the completion of each stanza of about 
twelve lines or so, he pauses for breath and encourage- 
ment, when the old women, who are watchful for the 



158 



A DRUSE ORATOR AND POET. 



opportunity of edging in their singular howls, seize 
upon the advantage afforded them, and make the 
house ring again with their chorus. 

We have before remarked that the noise they make 
is singularly illustrative of a parcel of enraged turkey 
cocks. On the present occasion it is more so than ever ; 
for as those noisy creatures, bursting with indignation 
and red with fierce wrath, will silently await the con- 
clusion of a donkey's braying, or any other noise that 
excites their ire, and then simultaneously burst into 
a gabbling chorus, so on the present occasion these 
crones stand on thorns of impatience longing for the 
orator to pause in his improvisation, so as to give vent 
to their pent-up exclamations. 

To those who are unacquainted with the Arab 
language, the whole scene would represent a most 
ludicrous spectacle, and all the eloquence of the poet 
subside into the nature of an unintelligible comic 
song ; but to us who are familiar with their vernacular, 
there is something exceedingly romantic and beautiful 
in the custom. Both the theme and the language are 
well sustained and eloquent, and there is only wanting 
the harp of Erin to remind us of those bygone days 
when the bards of old celebrated the achievements 
and prowess of the sons of chivalry, in beautiful verse 
and heart-stirring music. 

As it is more than probable that many of the 
readers of this book may never have had a sample of 
the speeches usually delivered on these occasions, we 



CHORUS OF ARAB WOMEN. 



159 



insert such portions as may give a general idea of the 
style generally practised. 

Good men are like the dew that falls in the hottest month of summer, 
Wherever it settles upon the earth there grass and flowers spring up ; 
And like a desolation, a dreary waste, are the poor who have 

nowhere to rest themselves or lay their heads. 
Still the same dew falls equally and alike upon all ! 
But the good man's heart is as a fertile soil, 
Where the least rain drop brings forth vegetation ; 
Whilst others, whose hearts are neither good nor bad, 
Sip the like moisture. But the barren soil refuses to yield its fruit. 
And the wicked and bad are as a desert sand, 
There the rain falls but never penetrates at all : 
The scorching sun of evil deeds burns up the moistness, 
And no 'seeds germinate, but all die and wither, 
And become alike a sterile, terrible wilderness. 

Here follows a chorus of the old ladies. 

And where the first blade of generous grass flourishes, 

The same comes to perfection and yields its own seed ; 

So with flowers, reproductive of their own sort, 

They, too, in course of growth, spread and increase. 

Thus the deeds of good men augment themselves, 

And one good action gives birth to many more, 

Till fame and honour watch the fertile spot, 

Where grass first sprung, 

And happiness there takes up his abode. 

Meanwhile, the barren soil, where thorns and briers grow. 

Chokes up its own productions, or withering fast, 

Sinks into the similitude of the wilderness itself. 

And that terrible wilderness, hovered over 

By heat, famine, pestilence, misery, and sin, 

Becomes a scourge upon the universe, 

A beacon for all nature's children to avoid. 

The old women gabble more violently than ever. 

Bad men, like bad soils, are destructive 
Not only to themselves, but to all who come 



160 



IMPROVISATION. 



Within the baneful influence of their evil jurisdiction ; 

Bat good men, like fertile mountain-tops, 

Are a beacon set up in the universe 

To warn all stragglers from the evil path, 

And guide them where to go. 

Their mornings are as the drooping vine, 

Clustering richly with dew-bespangled grapes ; 

Their noon-tide is as the summer sun shining pleasantly 

Upon the banks of some shaded purling stream ; 

Their night is as the disappearance of a brilliant meteor 

From the sky. And all men cry, 

Whither is he gone ! 

Chorus of crones. 

Thus as the birds and butterflies hover round 

The shadiest groves, where flowers in wild profusion grow, 

And balanced on the leafy boughs, sing forth their joy, 

Or sip the nectar from the opening rose ; 

So men of understanding like to flock around 

The abode of wisdom, where the wise and great, 

Shining in intellect, teach them wisdom's path ; 

Or string their hearts to mirth and song, 

By shedding hospitality abroad. 

And when themselves, the focus of some happy theme, 
Mirth flashes from their gladsome eyes, 
Then those who oft have tasted pleasure at their home, 
Join heart and soul in harmless revelry. 

Chorus. 

But when the benefactor of a village feast is Wisdom's son, 

When all around the genial influence has been felt, 

Of his kind deeds and actions, which like soothing oil 

Has poured frequent balm into aching heart or limb; 

When he proclaims the feast to celebrate a joyful rite, 

Then speedy flock the multitudes around. 

In looks, in gestures, or in words, each brings a mite, 

An offering for the peace and happiness of that man's home. 

The song, the laugh, the noisesome revelry, and dance, 

All these are tokens of their heartfelt joy : 

And join heart and hand with me to sing, 

Peace, happiness, and wealth without alloy. 



COMPLIMENTARY ADDRESS. 



161 



Here ensue an enthusiastic gabbling and clapping of 
hands, in which all present strive to outrival each 
other, and which lasts for several minutes ; meanwhile 
the old man, who is in the seventh heaven of his glory, 
stands up and bows gracefully with both hands folded 
over his breast, as he acknowledges the compliment 
paid him. Order is once more restored, the music 
tunes up in the corner, and our orator throws himself 
into an attitude and sings the remainder of his com- 
plimentary address to a really sentimental and pretty 
flow of verse, which, however, gains amazingly by 
being retailed without the music, or the squeeling 
accompaniment of the musicians. 

An old man planted two vine slips 
Close by his garden wall, 

They were healthy and young from a vigorous stem, 

And took root in a pleasant soil. 

So when winter had passed, and spring time came, 

The old man sat and watched, 

As in the congenial heat they grew, 

And spread out their branches apart. 

Chorus. 

So the lord of the feast has this day brought, 

And planted within his home, 

Two brave young hearts as man and wife, 

To flourish and grow together. 

And it's oh! may the sun of prosperity shine, 

And virtue crown their paths ; 

And like the two slips of the old man's vine, 

May they take deep root in hope of joy, 

And grow into stately plants. 

And when summer was come, the hotter sun 
Made the leaves on the branches sprout, 

M 



162 



DRUSE AMBITION". 



And these grew longer and longer each day, 
Twining each other about. 

And the old man's eyes were gladdened with joy 
As the buds of the blossom burst forth, 
For he knew full well that a harvest was nigh 
And that grapes would be soon brought forth. 

Chorus. 

So the lord of the house has this day brought, 

And planted within his home, 

Two brave young hearts as man and wife, 

To nourish and grow together. 

And it's Oh ! in the sunshine of bliss and love, 

May affection and fondness sprout, 

Till the heart of each other is wound about 

With the strongest links of esteem, 

And with joy the old man's eyes gleam bright! 

In this style, with a great deal more which would 
not interest the reader, (whose pardon we crave for 
so lengthy an imitation of the recitation and song of 
our Arabic bard,) the song continues through several 
couplets more, the whole winding up with a whirlwind 
of applause when the poet prophesies that the mar- 
riage will be productive of every blessing, and that as 
for arrows in the shape of children it will require 
a stupendous quiver to hold them all. This is the 
acme of Druse ambition; they do not care how much 
they may have to tussel and combat with the diffi- 
culties entailed by poverty, so long as they have plenty 
of sons and daughters. 

Our songster and poet, who is pretty well exhausted 
by his efforts, slinks away to that corner occupied by 
his friends, the musicians, who look upon him in the 
light of a prodigy of nature ; and there seated, he is 



THE DINNER. 



163 



supplied with refreshments, whilst the friends of the 
family and some of the more familiar guests occupy 
themselves in making arrangements for the supper 
being served. Tables are ranged all round the room 
similar to those used by our Druse friend, Abou Shein, 
and to each table is allotted from five to six guests ; 
when the supper is served all fall to simultaneously. 
As to the poorer classes, who are sitting outside in the 
yard, they are compelled to do without tables; this, 
however, does not take away from their appetites, or 
from the excellence and quantity of the food set before 
them. 

Like all Oriental dinners everybody thinks of eating 
and nobody of talking, so that the business of that 
meal is speedily despatched, and the tables and frag- 
ments are cleared away. Then a friend of the bride- 
groom, who is acting as bridesman, comes round and 
sprinkles us all freely with rose water and orange flower 
water ; the floor is swept up, smoking materials intro- 
duced, coffee sipped, and then the entertainments of the 
evening are resumed. There is no end to the uncouth 
music and songs, nor any limit put to the freedom with 
which jokes are detailed; and loud bursts of laughter 
and acclamations hail any successful jest. Our friend, 
Abou Shein, who is held in great estimation this 
night from the fact of our being his guests and of his 
having introduced us here, is called upon by the lord 
of the feast to stand forth and give us a specimen of 
the usual Arabian dance. Ready to the call he jumps 

M 2 



164 



ARABIAN DANCE. 



into the centre of the room, and divesting his head of 
the long narrow handkerchief wound round his 
tarboosh, he uses this as a scarf, and throwing himself 
into a graceful attitude, calls loudly for the music to 
strike up. Slowly he shuffles along, keeping admirable 
time to the notes of the music ; but as this gradually 
verges into a quick tune, so he throws greater activity 
into all his limbs till, finally, every energy seems 
bursting through his sinewy and naked calves as 
he goes through the regular steps of the rahs, twisting 
about and writhing like a serpent that has got its tail 
entangled in some crevice of a rock. Amazing indeed 
seems to be the pliability of every joint in his body; 
he dances until his legs and the musician's arms are 
ready to drop off with fatigue, till suddenly he subsides 
into a stooping posture, and making a low salaam 
retreats walking backwards to the seat he occupied ; 
then the music ceases and the musicians shout lustily 
for refreshments. 

So passes the evening, with alternate dances and 
songs, but it is not only within doors that these amuse- 
ments have been a-foot ; the humbler classes occupying 
the yard have not been one whit behind in their vocal 
performances, or the agility they have displayed in the 
dance. Possessed of a veritable drum of their own, 
with several accomplished peasant songsters, they may 
be said to have out rivalled the display within ; besides 
which, moreover, they have had several athletic games, 
and the young men have made a show of their 



THE BRIDE. 



165 



strength and nerve by engaging in wrestling matches 
to vanquish each other, in which they have put every 
nerve to the strain, not only from the impulse of wish- 
ing to overcome an adversary, but because all the 
damsels of the village have been looking on from 
house-tops and bye-ways, loudly applauding the victor 
whenever he threw his opponent, 

Meanwhile it may be a matter of curiosity to know 
what has become of the bride in all this long interval 
since she first crossed the threshold of her future 
abode. She, poor soul, like a timid bird, carefully 
watched by the mother and other female relatives of 
the bridegroom, has been at once conducted to the 
nuptial chamber, which is situated on the opposite side 
of the yard, and there she has been sobbing out her 
heavy and weary hours of loneliness in vain and fruit- 
less regrets for those happy years of childhood when, 
with unrestrained liberty, she was mistress of her 
actions and her time. Such at least is supposed to 
be the sad theme which occupies her reflections, though 
if the real truth were known, perhaps the only motive 
for the grief, (apart from a natural timidity in the 
presence of those dreadful old duennas who are here- 
after to watch her path with the green eyes of jealousy,) 
is a sense that amongst her people it would be con- 
sidered highly indecorous if she did not indulge in a 
proper amount of lamentation, sighs, and tears. And 
it is this motive that precludes her from enjoying the 
goodly supper set before her, which the other ladies 



166 



THE BRIDAL CHAMBER. 



relish with undisguised appetites, but of which she 
only tastes a mouthful, and washes that mouthful down 
with her own copious tears. 

About midnight, when, as if by instinctive influence, 
a temporary lull reigns over the scene of hilarity, a 
mysterious individual walks into the room where we 
are seated, and quietly sidling up to the bridegroom's 
father whispers something in his ears which is wholly 
unintelligible to ourselves. The stranger then with- 
draws, but he no sooner reaches the door than the old 
women set up a terrific gabbling, and simultaneously 
the bridegroom and all the guests, the father and one 
or two elders only excepted, stand up, and by mutual 
understanding the grand procession of the night is 
formed. Some old lady, who is carefully enveloped, and 
whose exact relationship we cannot discover, takes the 
bridegroom by the hand and leads him to the door and 
so across the yard to the threshold of the nuptial 
chamber. As he passes along he walks through a perfect 
wall on either side of human beings, clustered closely 
together, and each striving to follow nearest upon his 
heels so as to get a sight if possible of the bride ; we 
being distinguished guests are placed immediately 
behind the bridegroom, so that when the door of the 
bridal apartment is opened we are permitted to stand 
upon its threshold whilst all the women pass into the 
bride's room. 

The bride stands in the centre of the apartment 
completely covered over with a red veil bespangled 



CONCLUSION OF THE WEDDING FESTIVITIES. 167 

with small brass wire stars ; she is supported on either 
side by two of the bridegroom's nearest relatives, and 
the bridegroom himself receives from the hand of his 
own mother the tantour which he is about to place 
upon the head of his bride, and which is tantamount 
to the ring used by Christians. He now advances close 
to his bride, and with his left hand removing the 
veil, almost simultaneously he uses his right hand to 
place the tantour upon her head. 

There she stands revealed truly a charming young 
creature, with modest drooping eye-lashes and a 
brilliant tinge upon her cheek. Her face is really 
beautiful, her costume the most picturesque, we were 
going to say her tout ensemble — admirable; when 
a sudden rush of all the women from the bridal 
chamber, who are howling like frenzied maniacs, has 
forced us out in the yard again, and the door of the 
nuptial chamber is closed. 

We get back as speedily as we can to our seat 
beside the bridegroom's father, for really the noise and 
the turmoil that surround us on all sides are appalling 
beyond description. All the women, old and young, 
pretty and ugly, rich and poor, are mingled together 
and gabbling away with all their might and main in 
the yard; all the young men are dancing with the 
wildest enthusiasm a species of cannibal war dance, 
flinging up their guns in the air, catching and firing 
them off as they fall, kicking up their heels in every 
direction, shooting, bellowing, screaming, — in short 



168 



ABSURD SUPERSTITION. 



going through every process which would entitle us to 
indict them for a nuisance or authorize any commission 
upon lunacy to declare the whole assemblage, — our 
respectable selves and a few of the elders only excepted 
— fit inmates for Bedlam. 

In this manner do the Druses terminate their 
wedding festivities; not that they separate so soon as 
the bridegroom has disappeared from among them, but 
that there is no further novelty in the features of the 
entertainment for the evening, for the noise and the 
turmoil never have any intermission till daylight 
silences the riotous crew. The reason for all this is 
that the Druses have a superstition which leads them 
to suppose that Gins or evil spirits are usually more 
than ordinarily busy upon such-like occasions, and 
they believe that noise and wakefulness will frighten 
them away from interfering with the future happiness 
of the newly-wed ded pair. 

As we return home, weary with our day's excursion, 
Abou Shein tells us with a sigh that no such jollifi- 
cations or precautions inaugurated his marriage. We 
ask our host whether from the want of them he has 
ever felt one whit the less contented with his lot; and 
when he replies in the negative we whisper into his ear 
a short but startling moral, and that is, that hollow 
and empty vessels emit most sound when struck, but 
yet are far more useful and valuable when full of 
wholesome pilauf, or perhaps what would suit him 
better still, full of silver piastres, 



169 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE ANSYRIIS — DRUSE EMIGRATION — SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENCE — 
CRITICAL POSITION — A PRINCEDOM ON LEBANON — SACRED CITIES 
— SHEIN'S ACCOUNT OF A DRUSE INSURRECTION — SIGNAL OF 
ALARM — CONCLUSION OF SHEIN'S ACCOUNT. 

" Ille etiam caecos instare tumultus 
Saepe monet, fraudesque et operta tumescere bella." 

Virgil. 

The morning after the wedding the sun has stolen a 
march upon us, before we can shake off the lethargy 
occasioned by last night's wakefulness. This, however, 
is not of much importance, as almost all the village is 
in the same predicament, and the inhabitants have 
given themselves a holiday to recruit their strength 
and recover their voices before returning to their 
every-day occupations. As for our hostess and her 
daughter, to such good purpose did they assist during 
the uproar of last night, that, saving a wheezing sound, 
they can barely articulate; Abou Shein, however, who 
returned home with us, is better off in this respect 
than most of his neighbours, and as he is at liberty to 
remain with us all day, we take advantage of this cir- 
cumstance to gather from him such general information 



170 



THE ANSYRIIS. 



as be is enabled to impart relative to tbe Druses 
inhabiting Mount Lebanon. 

According to their own traditions, the Druses believe 
that their ancestors originally dwelt upon that range 
of mountains situated between Laodicea and the exten- 
sive plains of the Aniuk, and which are now exclusively 
inhabited by fierce and little-known Ansyrii tribes. 

In 1811, Topal Ali, a notorious ruffian, then 
governor of G'sr-il-Shu, a considerable district situated 
on the banks of the Orontes, and occupying a central 
position between Latakia and Aleppo, penetrated into 
the mountain recesses, with a most ferocious horde of 
vagabond cutthroats, and after committing the most 
atrocious cruelties, finally utterly expelled all the 
harmless Druse families then dwelling in those moun- 
tains. The Druses, in a measure, had restrained the 
foraging and thievish propensities of the Ansyriis ; but 
now these parts were left wholly in possession of that 
bandit people who still infest them. The passes were 
rendered impenetrable to travellers or merchants, and 
remain, even at the present day, the terror of many 
of the towns and villages in the surrounding plains, 
where these lawless tribes make frequent descents, and 
carry off the richest booty. 

Upwards of fifteen hundred Druse families, the sur- 
vivors of those who had been ruthlessly massacred, are 
said upon this occasion to have fled for protection and 
refuge to their fellow-creedsmen dwelling on the 
Lebanon; and since that period it is only in these 



DRUSE EMIGRATION. 



171 



parts exclusively that Druse settlements are to be 
encountered. The fugitives were received with the 
greatest cordiality and kindness, and a considerable 
sum of money was raised amongst the Druses of Mount 
Lebanon, who also allotted to the strangers convenient 
dwellings in various parts of the mountains, to recom- 
pense them, in some measure, for the severe sufferings 
they had undergone, and for the loss of home and 
patrimony. 

It fortunately happened for these refugees that some 
years before they had been compelled to seek a home 
and protection amongst their co-religionists, there had 
been a considerable emigration of Druse families from 
the Lebanon, when nearly six hundred families migrated 
to the mountains of Houran, which border upon the 
Syrian Desert and Arabia Deserta. The vacancy 
occasioned by so great an emigration had left much 
country uncultivated, and many villages depopulated : 
it was therefore an easy matter, within the clearly- 
defined confines of their own territory, to bestow lands 
and villages upon imigrants; and apart from that 
clannish tie which so links the Druses together, they 
were glad to add to their strength and independence 
by so considerable a reinforcement, especially at so 
critical a period, when the whole of Turkey and Egypt 
was convulsed with internal discord, and threatened 
with invasion from various parts, and when the recent 
massacre of the Mamelukes had spread terror and con- 
sternation throughout the country. 



172 



SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENCE. 



Unity is universally acknowledged to constitute 
strength, and with the Druses this maxim has been 
well illustrated through many years of harassing, but 
futile, attempts to suppress their liberty. They have 
retained and still retain that liberty, which to them is 
dearer than life itself, though to preserve it they are 
content to quit the more fertile plains and luxuriant 
pasturages of Syria and Palestine, and to content them- 
selves with their mountain retreat. 

Ibrahim Pasha was, perhaps, the only prince who 
has ever obtained a temporary advantage over them; 
but in all other respects they have lived an untaxed 
people, submitting only, and that with very bad grace, 
to the necessity imposed upon them of supplying a cer- 
tain ratio of young men for the conscription necessary for 
the maintenance of the Sultan's army. But even here, so 
hateful has this system of forced soldiery been considered, 
that it has often been the source of open and violent 
demonstration; and so lately as the year 1850, when 
recruiting was going on to a considerable extent in 
Damascus and Aleppo, and when in the last city, acting 
upon the outraged feelings of the more discontented po- 
pulace, a band of fanatics stirred up that terrible tragedy 
which cost so many lives and ruined so many families. 

Taking advantage of this state of affairs, the whole 
population of the mountains rose en masse; and driving 
out all recruiting parties, not only defied them to carry 
the conscription into their mountain haunts, but even 
threatened to pour down upon the plains and surround- 



CRITICAL POSITION. 



173 



ing towns. The whole of Bey rout was consequently 
thrown into a state of fermentation and excitement that 
lasted nearly a week, and every preparation was made 
to guard against an attack from the mountains. But 
although always ready and able to resent oppression, 
the Druses are faithful and sincere allies; witness the 
earnest sincerity with which they have embraced the 
Sultan's cause in the present struggle between the 
Turks and the Russians. 

In 1840, at the period when the Egyptians were 
being expelled from Syria by the allied powers, the 
whole of the Druse villages were in a state of uproar 
and confusion, and the mountains were impassable 
to travellers. It so chanced that several of the sons of 
the most respectable of the Druses had been forced into 
Ibrahim Pasha's service, where some of them held 
honourable office. Availing himself of this fact, the 
crafty Egyptian prince sent word to the mountains that 
if any Druse stirred hand or foot in favour of the Turks 
or their allies, those Druses in the power of Ibrahim 
Pasha should be instantly led forth and shot. In 
this predicament it was difficult to know how to 
act, for the Turks from Sidon were summoning the 
assistance of the Druses; whilst Europeans invited the 
Emir to co-operate both stratagetically and with his 
armed forces ; and it seemed a breach of good faith not 
to answer readily to their call. On the other hand, they 
were so familiar with the character of the Egyptian 
general, that they knew full well that any demonstra- 



174 



A PRINCEDOM ON LEBANON. 



tion on their part, contrary to the interests of Egypt, 
would be tantamount to signing the death warrant of 
every Druse then serving in the army of Ibrahim Pasha. 
The result of this unfortunate predicament was a sur- 
mise prejudicial to the honour and integrity of this 
brave people, who never for an instant wavered in 
intention though they were compelled to remain neutral, 
being idle spectators of a struggle in which they would 
willingly have chosen a side, had the force of circum- 
stances permitted them. 

It was Burkhardt's opinion, that if a crafty and subtle 
politician could be found among the Emirs— one who 
by opposing the Druses tribe to tribe might weaken 
their mutual authority, power, and confidence, — this 
man, supported as he would be by all the Christians, 
and eventually by all the Druse tribes, would be enabled 
to constitute a dominion — a princedom on the top of 
Lebanon, which would be impregnable as regards its 
independence, and set at defiance all the forces that 
Turkey or Egypt could send against it. The natural 
position, the fertility and resources of the country, are 
such, that these people might live entirely independent 
of the plains ; whilst their natural barriers preclude the 
possibility of the mountains being carried so long as 
men could be found to protect the passes and ravines. 

Sacred to the Druses of Lebanon are the cities Amma- 
tam and Bachlin. These are rallying points, where in 
time of trouble and warfare the tribes meet and swear 
allegiance to each and their cause, standing in their 



SACRED CITIES. 



175 



khaloue or mosques, where all the books of their faith 
are guarded religiously and with jealous zeal. In Anti- 
Lebanon Hasbeya and Rosheya answer the same purpose; 
and whenever anything is astir, anything going wrong, 
or anything suspicious, from these beacon points the 
news is telegraphed throughout the Druse districts with 
startling rapidity. Bonfires lit at various points signify 
various items of startling intelligence, and when any- 
thing terrible is approaching, — an enemy's force or a 
struggle between Druses and Christians, — then the scene 
these mountains present is wild and picturesque beyond 
description. Our friend Shein gave us an eloquent 
description of what he personally witnessed in one of 
the earlier and fiercer struggles amongst these mountain 
tribes ; when treachery, under the garb of friendship, 
lurked under every bush and tree • and when the tor- 
rents, to use the metaphor of our host, seemed to flow 
like poisoned water, so bitter and insincere were the 
hands that washed in them, and the lips that quenched 
their thirst thereat. But to come to the point at once. 
We quote verbatim, as near as we can recollect, the 
occurrences of an emeute on these mountains, witnessed 
and participated in by our host. 

shein's account of a druse insurrection. 

Something had gone wrong for a week or more, yet 
no one knew what, or nobody cared to ask how ; still 
it was silently evident to every individual dwelling on 



176 shein's account of a druse insurrection. 

the Lebanon. What can be more terrible than the 
silent dictates of thought and conscience, that some- 
thing must have happened to interrupt the harmony 
of everj-day intercourse, and that a dark cloud 
was suspended over the villages and towns ready to 
burst forth and sweep down the mountain sides in tor- 
rents of fierce strife and bloodshed % Even the vulture, 
keenly sensible of this, seemed to hover longer in his 
diurnal track from mountain summit -to mountain peak, 
as though expectant and yet disappointed of the looked- 
for prey. Mothers and young brides huddled closer 
together whenever the darker shades of night gathered 
in over the village ; and as for the children, they seemed 
to have forgotten their usual love of sport and fun ; or 
growing suddenly melancholy, they kept close under 
cottage walls, or ran home like startled deer when any 
sudden echo made their hearts palpitate with fear. 
Why all this should be so, nobody seemed to care to 
seek for information. 

The same change had been upon the mountain-tops 
five or six years before this period, and men looked 
nervous, and scowled, whilst women turned pale and 
crouched nearer to their fire, as the terrible recollection 
of what had then followed upon this gloom, flashed 
across their minds ; and they felt certain that sooner 
or later, in a few hours, or at furthest a day or two, 
the same tragedy would be re-enacted, though it was 
impossible to say who were to be the actors this time, 
who the spectators, who surviving the last act of the 



shein's account, continued. 



177 



drama might present its horrid scenery to children 
of an unborn generation. 

All the birds seemed to have forsaken the mountains, 
and the very honey bee had carried off its store of 
sweetness, fearing some dreadful pending catastrophy ; 
at least if it had not, it seemed to us to have done so, 
for — God help us ! — every pulsation of the heart 
seemed to strike an ominous note of warning, and 
every voice to cry out, The Philistines be upon us ! 
The sun had set, bathing its last rays in the snows of 
Lebanon, and the frugal repasts of the villagers had been 
partaken of. The wind, which generally of an evening 
blows pleasant and refreshing up here, had forgotten to 
visit us as early as usual ; possibly he was stopping 
to make love to some wild rose, or may be he had 
forgotten his sac de nuit, and his night-cap ; however 
this may be, it is certain he never came at all — 
and this may be taken as a mark of wisdom, for 
death must have been hovering over the place that 
night. At any rate we missed the breeze, and the 
intense stifling atmosphere of the night rendered the 
search for repose or sleep a fruitless task ; so every 
inmate of every house rolled about listlessly on the 
floors, hoping soon that he should hear the merry 
rustlings of branches and leaves of trees, as the 
night breeze danced merrily over them. 

I went out once just to see what kind of night it 
seemed, and I don't think I ever saw the stars looking 
more brilliant, or at a less distance from the earth. 

N 



178 shein's account, continued. 

Intense solitude prevailed everywhere ; every leaf of 
the sturdiest tree stood out in bold relief against the 
clear bespangled canopy of heaven ; even the very 
cricket seemed spell-bound, and the owl and the 
jackal were nowhere to be heard ; far away, looming 
through the haze of night, was the snow on various 
peaks and higher passes. I crept slowly and sadly to 
my bed again, for there was something horrible and 
saddening in such a perfect stagnation of nature ; it 
seemed as if the whole machinery of the universe had 
come to a standstill. 

After the lapse of about half an hour, however, I was 
just dosing off, and I know my wife was asleep for I 
heard her snoring distinctly ; suddenly I seemed to awake 
to the perception of a very distant, very imperfect, very 
uncertain sound ; and yet, though for the life of me 
I could not at that moment remember what it was, I 
knew I had heard it somewhere before ; and this 
knowledge instinctively seemed to arouse me up. 
Another second, and the sound was repeated, still 
distant and indistinct, but beyond doubt the same as 
I had heard before : I raised my head gently from my 
pillow, and leaning it upon the palm of my hand, tried 
vainly to recall to mind where I had heard that 
horrid sound before, or why it made my heart leap so 
with anxiety and vague alarm. A third time the 
thing came louder and more distinct than ever, floating 
like ice upon that silent night air, and freezing my 
blood as it sped by. I instantly jumped up, and 



SIGNAL OF ALARM. 



179 



ran out of doors: there, where half an hour before I had 
silently contemplated the intensely quiet picture, what 
a change had come over the scene ! A red glare shot up 
on every mountain height, and was instantly answered 
by dozens of minor beacons in all directions ; so that 
the whole firmament seemed to have taken fire, the 
reflection of which was peculiarly bright on the snow. 
As beacon light after beacon light spread the alarm, 
the cry arose for warriors and horsemen to arm them- 
selves ; criers ran up to the mountain tops and those 
perspicuous places were the beacons glared, and thence 
they summoned their creedsmen to arms. Catching at 
the words wafted from hill top to hill top, I ran to our 
own village beacon, and instantly kindled it. This 
aroused all the villagers, and I summoned them in the 
names of our chiefs and elders, to buckle on their 
swords and seize their lances, for the Philistines were 
advancing against us. 

Deir Yacoub was the rendezvous appointed for the 
Druse forces to meet, and thither we immediately 
repaired, leaving our wives and children in the charge 
of some of the elders, who conducted them to places 
of safety and refuge. Before light had broken in upon 
the east, the forces of the Maronites had clambered 
over to within musket shot of where we were assembled, 
but every hour brought us reinforcements, so that 
within twelve hours from the first alarm and summons, 
upwards of twelve thousand Druses had congregated 
in one spot; and we turned the line of attack, com- 

K 2 



180 CONCLUSION OF SIIEINS ACCOUNT. 

pelling our invaders to retreat within their own 
bounds, and ultimately to sue for peace. But some- 
times they in their turn have had the better of us, 
and even this time there was no cause for rejoicing : 
many a stout-hearted Druse, who had started up 
suddenly, as I had, rushing away impetuously from 
wife and home, and everything dear to him, was 
carried home again inanimate dust. No wonder then 
that that cry was terribly familiar to me ; no wonder 
that the people and everything around us seemed 
grave and sad, when it was secretly known to every 
one that that war-cry might be hourly expected ! And 
though I hope it will always find me, so long as 
energy and health remain, ready and active in obedi- 
ence to its call, I must acknowledge that I never wish 
again to hear its hateful echo in these mountains. 

So concludes our Druse, and to his last exclamation 
we say Amen ! hoping sincerely, that amongst other 
benefits that may accrue to Turkey from the results 
of the present war, we may live to see a happy and 
comfortable settlement of the rights and grievances, 
respectively, of the Druses and the Maronites ; so that, 
their interests never again clashing, they may find no 
cause or necessity for ever resorting to open warfare. 



181 



CHAPTER XIV. 

CHARACTER OF THE DRUSES — DICTATES OF CONSCIENCE — THE ORDER 
OF ARAL — THE "CHIEF OF THE STARS " — LAW OF DIVORCE — 
LAW OF INHERITANCE — DRUSE CADI — RIGHTS OF HOSPITALITY 
— DJEZZAR PASHA — DIVISION INTO CLASSES— DOMESTIC DUTIES- 
BIRTHS— THE PRACTICE OF SERENADING — CHILDREN'S CRADLES 
— SUPERSTITIONS — DIET AMONG THE DRUSES — DREAD OF 
SUSPICION. 

"Sir," said he, "a desire of knowledge is the natural feeling of 
mankind; and every human being, whose mind is not debauched, will 
be willing to give all that he has, to get knowledge." 

Boswell's Life of Johnson. 

The Druses, though not the most numerous, are 
acknowledged to be the most warlike and courageous 
people inhabiting the Lebanon ; and occupying all the 
southern portion, the western slope of Anti-Lebanon and 
G'bl il Sheik, they have upwards of forty large towns 
and villages inhabited exclusively by themselves, and 
nearly two hundred and thirty villages occupied by a 
mixed population of Druses and Christians; whilst in 
Anti-Lebanon they are also possessed of nearly eighty 
exclusively Druse villages. The country about these 
parts may be said to be almost uniformly successive 
hillock and vale, every position affording a means of 
security, and excluding the fear of invasion. 



182 



CHARACTER OF THE DRUSES. 



The general aspect of their country is that of land 
in a high state of cultivation, for even in rocky parts 
and sterile ground, grape plants and hardy fig trees are 
planted and hide the natural disadvantages of the soil. 
Nor in a moral point of view are the Druses one whit 
behind the advanced and civilised appearance of their 
country. They possess all the principal ingredients of 
civilisation, for they are industrious, bold, enterprising, 
courageous, honest, and honorable, in a way which will 
not admit of comparison with any other native tribe 
inhabiting the mountains. 

Their only failing or grand want is a proper notion 
or appreciation of real religion. Under their present 
system of belief in a heterogeneous code unskilfully 
gleaned from all known sources of faith, or all heard- of 
creeds upon the earth, they lamentably lack that 
strength of principle which ought to be the foundation 
or turning point of every action or thought in life. 
They are possessed of the will to be honorable and just ; 
they claim the inclination to be honest ; but they have 
nothing to fall back upon which applauds such reso- 
lutions or encourages their furtherance and perseverance. 
With them all the virtues they possess are much more 
the results of a happy and natural sagacity, than the 
fruits of example, advice, or precedents; for they 
possess no universities or public schools for the in- 
culcation of morals and learning, and their most learned 
doctors are babblers of what they themselves cannot 
possibly comprehend. Yet it is this very unfathomable 



DICTATES OF CONSCIENCE. 



183 



mystery of their own religion which ever remains an 
incomprehensible theme to themselves, and serves as 
a cloak to the ignorance of their elders, which acts 
as a spell in restraining within certain limits of 
discretion and decorum all the actions and deeds of 
the Druses. 

Indeed from what can be gleaned from the theory 
appended to this work, it would seem as though the 
dictates of conscience were the principal monitors 
which point out to the Druse what things to do and 
what to avoid ; and though with some glaring exceptions 
they have no defined rules or laws to restrict them, the 
fear of that power which is supposed to envelope the 
penetration of those learned in their faith, and the 
spell which mystery invariably casts upon ignorance, 
mentally restrain them from the commission of many 
acts which though perpetrated in secret, and escaping 
flagrant detection, would, they superstitiously imagine, 
inevitably entail their own punishment. 

Thus far this very mystery is a boon to the people, 
more desirable than the clearer precepts and theories 
of other people when undue power is invested in 
narrow -minded and uneducated priestcraft, or equally 
viciously- disposed Imams or Sheiks who. under the 
cloak of religious duty, exercise only the dictates of 
vengeance, avarice, or self-aggrandisement. It is, there- 
fore, far better that the Druses should remain disciples 
of their own mysterious faith till such time as a fair 
opportunity presents itself for their being converted to 



184 



THE ORDER OF ARAL. 



a belief holy in its principle, unshakeable in its theory, 
and which has for its aim the amelioration of both the 
present and future state of man, and is shackled by 
none of those selfish principles which are so universally 
mixed up with all other doctrines but that of the true 
Church. 

Although various sects are said to exist amongst the 
Druses, who oftentimes have violent disputes amongst 
themselves relative to religious questions, their 
interests are so mutually bound together that they all 
unite under one head, whenever anything threatens to 
interfere with their liberties, or to injure them as an 
independent body. But the whole class admits of only 
two grand divisions, Akals and the D'ghahils; the 
former constituting that class who are supposed to be 
conversant with the Druse religion, the latter all the 
rest. 

Of the former are constituted the clergy, and the 
learned doctors and elders; these superintend the 
ordinances of worship, and instruct the children in the 
elements of their religion. One distinguishing mark 
of this class is the extreme simplicity of their costumes, 
they being forbidden to wear any article of gold or 
silk, whilst their language must be in accordance with 
their calling, and swearing or abusive language unfits 
them for their positions. Many of the women are 
admitted into this order, which some of them adopt 
from parsimony, as they are then exempted from the 
necessity of wearing the tantour or of indulging in 



THE "CHIEF OF THE STARS. 



.185 



such expensive dresses as the higher classes usually 
adopt. 

Another singular feature of this class of Druses is 
their refusing to receive money, or to partake of food, 
in any other Druse's house, lest such food or money 
should have come by improper means into the hands of 
the donor. Consequently, when they have sums of 
money due to them for the produce of their vineyards, 
or for the sale of their silk crop, they invariably 
employ a third party to change such money into other 
coins, so that the cash they pocket cannot be directly 
associated with the original donor or purchaser. 

A great man amongst the Druses is their astrologer, 
the Sheik il N'goum, or the Chief of the Stars, who 
usually accompanies the Druse Sheik upon all visits of 
ceremony, being invariably consulted upon all under- 
takings to which any weight or importance is attached. 

From what our host tells us, in a secret and confi- 
dential whisper, as though afraid that all the heads of 
the villages should overhear and punish him for the 
divulgence, we discover that the Khaloues, or edifices 
erected for their worship, are simple and in keeping 
with the general aspect of the people themselves and 
their manners. The exterior of the buildings differ 
but little from the ordinary run of Druse houses, 
perhaps only with the exception of being whitewashed 
or plastered with lime. They are usually situated apart 
from the villages upon some commanding position, 
whence, by the means of sentries, they are secure from 



186 LAW OF DIVORCE. 




sudden interruption, or the prying propensities of the 
inquisitive, when in the discharge of the secret duties 
of their religion. Inside, the flooring is covered with a 
rush mat, and they have invariably a basin filled by a 
running stream, which is doubtless used during some 
portion of their ceremonials, but our Druse will not 
tell us how or when; and in some of the larger and 
more important Khaloues the walls are decorated with 
the most grotesque specimens of rude art, highly- 
coloured figures of men, women, children, birds and 
beasts, all badly executed, but which may doubtless 
some day prove a clue to some incident of their past 
history, when in future and more enlightened days 
another Robinson shall investigate their secrets and 
astonish the generation of that date with a book of 
revelations. 

With regard to the code moral of the Druses, they 
are in most things subjected to the prevailing law of 
the land; but they have some peculiarities, some frag- 
ments of their own, which are rigidly adhered to in all 
cases and tacitly acknowledged by the Turkish autho- 
rities. Amongst these we may mention the law of 
divorce, which, though simple in practice, is seldom 
put into execution. According to the strict letter, 
however, if a wife leave her husband's abode without 
an injunction to return again, this is tantamount to a 
divorce, and however willing both parties may be to 
re-unite they cannot again be brought together till the 
woman be first married again according to the Turkish 



LAW OF INHERITANCE— DRUSE CADI. 



187 



rites and ceremonials, to a third party, who must then 
divorce her; after this she is at liberty to return to 
her first husband, but as we said before, this absurd 
practice is seldom put into execution, and the Druses, 
as well as other nations, have found law so expensive 
and ruinous a process that they will never resort to it 
if they can by any possible means compromise matters 
among themselves. 

There is another strange law very binding upon the 
Druses, and one which, in its effect and working, is to 
a certain extent productive of good, though it may be 
as well to premise that quarrels between fathers and 
sons are of very rare occurrence indeed. Still no father 
has the power entirely to disinherit a son, but there is 
a clause which renders this law null and void, and 
ludicrous in its institution; for although no man can 
entirely disinherit his son, he has the privilege of 
being entitled to leave him only a solitary mulberry 
tree, which is de facto tantamount to leaving him 
nothing at all, yet without which a will would be 
invalid and be set aside in favour of the heir-at-law. 

There is always a Druse Cadi residing at Deir-il- 
Kamar, and this post has been inherited from father to 
son through many ages ; but the learning of the present 
representative is so little appreciated, that all causes 
of importance are carried before the Emir or Sheik. 

The rite of circumcision is not practised by the Druses. 
But the most remarkable feature in the character of 
the Druse, and the one which admits of no comparison 



188 



RIGHTS OF HOSPITALITY. 



amongst other nations, is their jealous appropriation of 
the rights of hospitality, which they look upon as most 
sacred and binding, and refugees from all parts of Syria 
are continually in the practice of availing themselves of 
this protection ; for from the moment they set foot 
upon the territory of the Emir they are considered as 
free from persecution or pursuit. Volney, whilst 
speaking of this peculiar feature of the Druses, informs 
us that an Agha of the Janissaries, having been engaged 
in a rebellion at the close of the eighteenth century, 
fled from Damascus, and retired among the Druses. 
The Pasha was informed of this, and demanded him of 
the Emir, threatening to make war upon the latter in 
case of refusal. The Emir demanded him of the Sheik 
with whom he had taken refuge, but the latter indig- 
nantly refused to give him up, returning for answer, 
that he desired to be informed whether the Emir 
had ever known a Druse surrender his guest. " Tell 
the Emir/' said the Sheik, " that so long as I shall 
preserve my beard, not a hair of the head of my 
guest shall fall." The Emir threatened him with 
force; the Sheik armed his family ; and the Emir, dread- 
ing a revolt, adopted a method practised as juridical in 
that country. He declared to the Sheik that he would 
cut down fifty of his mulberry trees daily until the 
Agha was given up. He proceeded as far as a thousand, 
and the Sheik still remained inflexible ; at length the 
other Sheiks became incensed and took up the quarrel, 
and the commotion was about to become general, when 



DJEZZAR PASHA. 



189 



the Agha, reproaching himself for having been the cause 
of so much mischief, escaped from the mountains with- 
out the knowledge of his protector/' 

It is well known, even at the present day, that 
should the prince ever be tempted by bribery 
or any other causes to deliver up any man who had 
sought and found protection amongst the Druses, the 
whole country would rise to frustrate such a breach 
of hospitality, and prevent such a stain upon their 
national reputation. Even that dreadful miscreant 
Djezzar Pasha, whose name spread terror all over the 
East, and whose deeds of infamy have been unrivalled 
in the calends of cruelty, even this man, who had 
invested the government of the mountains in the hands 
of his own creatures, never could force them to give up 
a single refugee ; they protected him so long as they 
were able, and when threatened with imminent danger 
assisted him in effecting his escape to the remotest 
parts of the empire. 

As a more recent evidence of the tenacity with 
which the Druses adhere to this privilege, I may be 
pardoned for referring to an incident which occurred to 
my own father and some of his friends, whilst travelling 
in these mountains in 1840, the more especially as it 
proves that these Druses are also capable of evincing 
their gratitude for any kindnesses received, when the 
opportunity presents itself. 

It so happened, that the gentleman in question, in 
company with some ladies and other friends, had visited 



190 



DIVISION IffTO CLASSES. 



Damascus, and being about to return to Beyrout, they 
had arrived as far as Deir-il-Kamar when that terrible 
revolution broke out upon the mountains, which we have 
already referred to, and which rendered it equally dan- 
gerous to return, go forward, or to remain. In this 
predicament my father, who had been many years a 
resident at Bey rout, and who in his official consular 
capacity had had frequent intercourse with the Sheiks 
of the Druses, often favouring and befriending them, 
now applied to one of them for advice and protection 
in their present dilemma. 

The Sheik he applied to chanced to be an old friend, 
and immediately exerted himself to secure the safe pas- 
sage of the travellers down to Beyrout. Through his 
influence a considerable escort was obtained, and under 
the sacred influence and appellation of guests, the 
strangers were guided through the most difficult defiles 
and passes, and arrived scathless at Beyrout, none of 
the contending parties attempting to interfere with or 
arrest their progress; a fact which was all the more 
remarkable, since Europeans were held in detestation 
by the Egyptian forces which then occupied the country 
they were about being forced to evacuate. 

In the ordinary relations of life the Druses are divided 
into three distinct classes, consisting of the emirs, or 
princes, the sheiks or hereditary chiefs, and the zelmat 
or lower orders; and between these three there exist 
all those ordinances of etiquette which are necessary 
for the maintenance of their respective ranks, being a 



DOMESTIC DUTIES — BIRTHS. 



191 



reciprocal acknowledgment of each other's peculiar 
station and calling in life. They are very proud of their 
public reputation, and nothing can escape the retaliating 
vengeance of a Druse when he has been publicly abused 
or insulted in a street. In this respect they are very 
similar to the Malays, ever craving for a retaliation, 
and not caring what sacrifices they make to gratify 
their revenge. But as this failing is well known amongst 
all people frequenting the mountains, it seldom if ever 
happens that a brawl occurs in public. 

In the domestic duties of life the Druse might be 
held up as an example to other people, the generality 
of the men being kind husbands and fond parents, the 
wives dutiful, affectionate, and extremely devoted to 
their children. 

The birth of a child in a Druse's house, whether it be 
son or daughter, always gives rise to manifestations of 
joy and rejoicings. When a son is born, all the men 
of the village assemble at the father's house to felicitate 
him upon the happy event, whilst the women are equally 
active in giving vent to their congratulations by resort- 
ing to the noises we have already described at weddings. 

Upon such occasions the whole wealth of the store- 
room is ransacked to set before the guests such dainties 
as can be afforded ; sweetmeats and nuts, dried fruit, 
etc., with coffee, are liberally dispensed, whilst the 
women, entering within doors, come in for their share 
of good things. 

This liberal expenditure, however, is only occasioned 



192 



THE PRACTICE OF SERENADING. 



by the birth of a son. A girl is hailed only by the noisy 
acclamations of the women ; and though, in this respect, 
better welcomed and more esteemed than the generality 
of girls born in native huts in Syria, there is still a 
kind of dumb show of regret which seems tacitly to 
indicate that the father would much sooner have hailed 
the advent of a son, though compelled to content him- 
self with what has been sent him. 

The most romantic incident connected with the 
birth of a Druse child is the practice of serenading the 
new-born child soon after its birth, when a few friends 
assemble, the rest of the village being hushed in sleep, and 
sing appropriate verses of welcome upon the occasion. 

Excepting only in cases of death, children are inva- 
riably reared by their own mothers; but where the 
nutriment proves insufficient, they do not hesitate to 
feed infants upon goat's milk, which is administered 
by means of a simple glass bottle. 

It is surprising and remarkable at what an early 
age the Druse children begin to cater for themselves. 
Possessed of a naturally robust constitution, and 
with an iron digestion, children that have barely cut 
their first teeth are permitted to eat of everything 
which the Druse himself partakes of; whether it be 
fruit, or meat, or vegetables, it little signifies, they eat to 
repletion, and that apparently without any incon- 
venience resulting therefrom, and the only effect of this 
repletion is an inclination to quiet or sleep, so that food 
would seem to act as an opiate upon the Druse child. 



children's cradles— superstitions. 193 

After they have finished their mid-day repast, it is 
the first care of the young Druse mother to prepare her 
child's cradle, and these cradles are constituted after 
the most primitive fashion, and of the most simple 
material. In fine weather they are usually slung under 
some trees nearest to the house, in winter from pole to 
pole that serve as props for. the roof ; and the whole 
material consists of two stout ropes with a bit of old 
carpet stretched across the centre. In this carpet, being 
supplied with a cushion, the child is placed, covered 
over with anything that comes first to hand, and secured 
from tumbling out by having a shawl wound round and 
round it ; a thin gauze handkerchief is thrown over 
the child's face to protect it from flies, and it is the 
duty of some one member of the family to keep the 
cradle swinging. In addition to this, every family has 
a wooden cradle of the ordinary sort, in which the child 
sleeps when it has outgrown its swaddling clothes. 

Connected with these cradles are many superstitions 
which prevail amongst all classes inhabiting the East. 
Of these the most prominent is the belief that it is worse 
than fatal to the future health and welfare of the child, 
should any one attempt to rock the cradle when it is 
empty. A mother will hardly forgive any one guilty 
of such an atrocity ; for according to their superstitions, 
evil spirits, which are always on the look out, and which 
are remarkably fond of having a swing, will be sure to 
jump into a cradle when it begins to rock, if it should 
chance to be empty, and having once got in will remain 

o 



194 



DIET AMONG THE DRUSES. 



there invisibly, torturing and pinching the child till it 
teazes it into sickness and death. 

It is a fallacious idea, and one wholly unsupported by 
fact, that the Druses are addicted to raw meat, eating 
the livers and hearts of sheep with cannibal-like gusto 
whenever they can get them. Our friend, Abou Shein, 
denies the charge with indignation and horror, but he 
acknowledges to a failing prevalent amongst all natives 
of all creeds, and which probably originated the absurd 
report; this is eating the kubbe in its uncooked or raw 
condition. But this changes the matter materially, for 
though the meat in the kubbe' has not in that state 
been exposed to the fire, it cannot any longer be said 
to be in a raw condition, since it has been first 
of all minced up into the finest imaginable particles, 
mixed with pepper, salt, and burghol, and then so 
unmercifully pounded and beaten in a mortar that the 
whole substances have amalgamated into one thick 
paste, and can no more be considered crude. 

The foregoing account amounts to all the local infor- 
mation that we can obtain from our host relative to the 
manners and customs of his own people; and though 
willing and ready to oblige in the extreme, we can per- 
ceive that it is no congenial task we have imposed upon 
him, and therefore we desist from further questionings. 
Moreover he says that Europeans in general, and English- 
men in particular, usually keep their eyes and ears wide 
open wherever they go, and that many incidents which 
might escape the observation or be thought unworthy 



DREAD OF SUSPICION. 



195 



of notice by a Druse, would infallibly fall under our 
scrutiny and criticism. 

We are persuaded that the Druse looks upon our 
inquiries as the prelude to a regular catechism which 
would tire and exhaust his patience, besides exposing 
him to the suspicion and ill will of his neighbours ; and 
as by this time the drowsy villagers are recovering from 
the effects of last night's revelry, and lounging about in 
lazy listlessness, ready to pick up and misconstrue any 
stray word or sentence, he deems it prudent to beat a 
retreat. Dinner is accordingly ordered to be prepared 
half an hour earlier than the usual time, and in this 
interval he undertakes to rub up and feed our horses 
so that they may be ready for their saddles when we 
shall start hence, an hour after noon, on our way to 
the village of Ainab. 



o 2 



196 



CHAPTER XV. 

LEAVE-TAKING — DEPARTURE FROM k'fARCHIMA — DISAGREEABLE 
ENCOUNTERS — CRITICAL POSITION —ENCOUNTER WITH A MULE- 
TEER — HYPOCRITICAL ESSAYS — MOUNTAIN TRAVELLING — AP- 
PROACH TO ALNAB — HUNGRY TROOPS OF JACEALS — ARRIVAL AT 
AINAB — THE RECEPTION HALL OF THE SHEIK — PRINCELY 
HOSPITALITY — SHEIK EBN HAMDAN — AN ASSEMBLY OF NATIVES 
— THE ARABIC LANGUAGE. 

"Oh, oh!" quoth my friend, "he'll come in a trice, 
He's keeping a corner for something that's nice: 
There's apiasfre." 

Goldsmith. 

We soon leave the scene of all the late wedding- 
festivities behind us, as winding round Karkafe, the road 
that we pursue secludes from sight all vestiges of the 
village. It is not likely that during our present tour we 
shall be induced to come back this way again, and the 
chances are that never in the course of human life, 
we shall converse with, or mingle amongst those whom 
a few hours' sojourn has rendered as familiar as friends 
of many years' standing. We have eaten and slept, 
drunk and rejoiced, with the inmates of our host's 
house, and partaken of the hilarity of their neighbours. 



LEAVE-TAKING. 



197 



During this brief interval, therefore, we have been 
initiated into all that even a Druse himself, in the 
ordinary course of affairs, will witness seldom oftener 
than once in six months or so ; consequently, it is not 
without some sentiment of regret that we turn our back 
upon the abodes of hospitality and kindness; nor are 
the natives themselves deficient in demonstrating their 
respect and esteem for us, by congregating at the door 
of our host's house to witness our departure. 

The strange echo of our unfamiliar voices will long 
have subsided into nothingness, before we are entirely 
forgotten by the humble and industrious denizens of 
the mountain village. The bright eye of the heroine 
of our imaginary romance, and equally fabulous 
Fiddlefaddle patronage, is dimmed by the transient 
cloud of sorrow, as she presses our hands fervently 
to her lips, and implores a blessing upon us, wherever 
we may roam or dwell. 

Possibly she recalls to mind the startling fact revealed 
to her of the liberties and enjoyments of women in 
our own free land of happiness, and she may 
momentarily regret that her lot has not been cast 
amongst us ; at any rate the novelty of being made 
something of, of being treated as an equal, and 
conversed with on familiar terms, has inspired her 
with a gratitude which will not easily be erased from 
her memory. Even the mother and the smaller 
children cluster around us, as though sorry to lose a 
plaything, the latter particularly lamenting being 



198 



DEPARTURE FROM K'FARCHIMA. 



compelled to part with our capacious hats, which have 
proved to them a source of great amusement. 

However, we get over the ceremony of parting as 
speedily as we can, for somehow or other there is 
always a dismal dreariness linked up with leave- 
taking, and it is a solemn reflection upon the instability 
of human affairs, to know that we are looking upon 
a thing, let it be ever so trifling, for the last time. 
However, luckily for human nature, everything in the 
path of life resembles forcibly the path of nature. Rain 
and clouds are always succeeded by sunshine; and so the 
fair daughter of our Druse, though heavy in spirit at 
the present moment, will wake up to-morrow more 
joyous than ever, remembering our visit only as a 
pleasant incident of past life, and industriously plying 
the shuttle to complete, one hour earlier if possible, 
the mystic woollen scarf which she is busily weaving 
against the day when some yet unknown gallant shall 
appear at her father's door, to demand it of her, as a 
token of submission and acquiescence. 

So we ride on in solitude, lost for the time being 
in a deep reverie ; but our friend Abou Shein, who 
acts as our guide and companion, soon recalls stray 
thoughts from their wool-gathering occupation, by 
inviting attention to the scenery around. In addition 
to this, our road is so precarious that self-protection, 
and the care of the animal we ride, wholly engross 
every other sentiment. 

We have reached the high road, and continue along 



DISAGREEABLE ENCOUNTERS. 



199 



a well-beaten track ; yet, for all its being frequented 
by continual caravans of mules and camels, travellers, 
and casual passengers, the road itself is of the vilest 
description. For the first hour or so, the ground we 
pass over is of an undulating nature, full of loose 
crumbling stones, or slippery slabs of rock, with every 
here and there a frightfully narrow edge terminating 
in a precipice on one side, and an abrupt rocky wall 
on the other. But our horses are well accustomed to 
this method of travelling, and pick out their way with 
remarkable sagacity and instinct. By and by the 
country becomes more open, the ascents greater, the 
descents more precipitous, but the roads still continue 
as bad as ever. 

We have not proceeded very far before, coming in 
an opposite direction, and laden with huge beams of 
timber, stalks a caravan of camels, swinging and 
rocking about like ships in a heavy sea, as they pass 
over narrow and dangerous portions of the road, or 
tottering again under their heavy burthens, as forced 
to walk down precipitous hill-sides. 

It is no pleasant sensation to feel yourself seated on 
a horse which is clambering up an almost vertical hill, 
with the loose soil and gravel sliding away from under 
every hoof, as the tired and frightened animal exerts 
every sinew in its efforts to reach the top; but far 
more disagreeable is it when you have got just half 
way up, — and it is equally perilous, if not more so, to 
stop your horse and attempt to return, — to find to your 



200 



CRITICAL POSITION. 



utter consternation and dismay a caravan of these 
camels coming down overhead. Every step they take 
seems to threaten you with instant annihilation ; for 
if by any chance they slipped and fell, nothing human 
could save one from destruction ; and, moreover, 
being aware of the perilous nature of the descent, 
nothing will induce them to budge one inch out of 
the direct line they are pursuing, so that it remains 
only for the horse to scramble to one side or the 
other, as these leviathans of the desert approach. 

To add to the confusion and dismay of the moment, 
the camel drivers come down hooting and screaming, 
as though well persuaded that nothing but utter 
destruction awaits the caravan ; so that if in the 
turmoil you neglect to give your horse its own way, 
and vigorously pull the bridle, the chances are ten 
to one that you are rolled over in the dust, and sent 
flying, horse and all, to the bottom of the hill. 

But in our instance we are free from all cares on 
this head; Abou Shein is an experienced guide, and the 
horses we ride are possessed of the instinct gained by 
fifty journeys over these very paths ; so that we always 
manage to avoid coming into contact with any caravan 
in these disagreeable localities, where the choice only 
remains of running the risk of either being squeezed 
to death on one side, or jerked over the precipice on 
the other. 

During these rencontres we cannot fail observing 
one great characterestic of the natives of these moun- 



ENCOUNTER WITH A MULETEER. 



201 



tains, and that is their amazing addiction to and love 
of gossip. On every occasion, and however small the 
convoy, the muleteers, or camel drivers, or solitary 
horsemen, as the case may be, will invariably turn back 
as soon as their animals are out of harm's way, and enter 
into five minutes' conversation, the general run of which 
conversations may be gleaned from that passing between 
Abou Shein and the head muleteer of a caravan of 
fifty mules, which have just disentangled themselves 
in a most miraculous manner from a portion of the 
road so narrow that the projecting rocks on either 
side required each burthen to be shifted to a perpen- 
dicular position, as the animals passed ; yet, notwith- 
standing all this care, one fractious mule, ungovernable, 
or naturally vicious, and which started off at full 
speed just at the critical moment, has managed to 
damage the whole of its burthen, — witness the fragments 
scattered around us, which once constituted a Spanish 
guitar, the only solace of some unfortunate lady on the 
mountains during her hours of solitary exile. 

The old muleteer, who approaches Shein cautiously 
on his donkey, and who is full of wrath at the miscon- 
duct of the mule, besides being much addicted to strong 
language, commences the dialogue with a blessing. 
"Allah y'koon mdahom" (God be with you,) says the 
muleteer, addressing our guide and ourselves. We 
return the salutation with becoming dignity. " Did you 
see that child of a Gin V expostulates the old man ; 
"did you witness his freaks \ By the eyebrows of the 



202 



HYPOCRITICAL ESSAYS. 



prophet, two hundred piastres will not cover the loss 
I have sustained. May a donkey sit on his father's 
grave!" Our Druse friend consoles the muleteer, by 
assuring him that such accidents are of frequent 
occurrence, and that the fault is more of the road 
than of the animal. 

Pacified by this, he offers his tobacco bag to the 
Druse and begs him to fill pipes round with it, which 
we accordingly do ; and whilst thus occupied he carries 
on a whispering discourse with our guide, endeavour- 
ing to find out who we are and whither we are going 
to ; and being satisfied on these points, he remains 
silent a few seconds, smoking furiously the while, and 
plotting secretly upon what possible pretext he may 
ask for a baksheesh. Suddenly he is seized with the 
most intense civility and assiduity * the girths of our 
saddle appear to him not sufficiently drawn, though 
the horses, in our opinion, think otherwise, to secure our 
safety on so perilous a road • so whether we will or not, 
he loosens them and fastens them again, and then there 
is something in the bridle that attracts his attention. 

Finding that these mute shows are unsuccessful 
in producing the desired effect, he changes the 
system of by-play, and seating himself upon a frag- 
ment of rock, sinks, forthwith, ten fathoms deep into 
sorrows and lamentations. Very suddenly the picture 
of the unknown lady whose guitar has been smashed 
into fragments, rises like a threatening apparition 
before his mind, and he assures us with all the 



MOUNTAIN TRAVELLING. 



203 



mockery of acute anguish that he has not a para in 
the world to bless himself with, illustrating his 
poverty by a singular action, peculiar to these people, 
which consists of rasping the thumb nail against the 
front teeth, by forcing the hand away from the mouth, 
which is supposed to indicate a state of despicable 
pauperism. 

However, we quote an English proverb, and trans- 
lating the same for the benefit of the crafty muleteer, we 
tell him that "old birds are seldom caught with chaff f 
but as, crestfallen, he steals away to rejoin his mules, 
we call him back again, and gladden his old eyes by the 
donation of a piastre or two. For after all, there is no 
doubt that the man will be a sufferer from the vagrancy 
of his mule ; and he has acted his part so well, that he 
merits a trifling recompense. 

By frequent encounters, such as these, our time has 
slipped away pleasantly enough ; so that we are unex- 
pectedly gratified by a sudden bend in the mountains 
bringing us in sight of a singular clump of palm trees, 
which are a rare spectacle at so great an elevation 
from the sea, and which consequently serve as an 
infallible beacon to indicate the whereabouts of the 
village of Ainab. But nothing is more deceptive 
than distance on these mountains, for whilst appa- 
rently within a quarter of an hour's ride of the village 
of our destination, we are in reality separated from it 
by interminable windings and turnings in the road, and 
an infinity of valleys and hills, which being on a lower 



204 



APPROACH TO AINAB. 



elevation than ourselves, do not present to the casual 
spectator the absolute stumbling block they prove to 
our speedier progress. 

Of this, however, we have ample demonstration as 
we ride along; for we have no sooner arrived at the 
bottom of one glen, and hope on reaching the summit of 
the hill before us to see the village beneath our feet, 
than this hope is speedily blighted by the dreary 
realization of another glen and another hill, and so on 
to the end of the chapter. The road is abominable 
beyond endurance ; bad enough at mid-day, and in the 
best season of the year; intolerable now that the shades 
of night are rapidly obscuring objects around us, and a 
cold mountain mist hangs over the place. 

The last lark, who kept it up five minutes later than 
its companions, has finished its vesper song, and crept 
into its snug warm moss-lined nest, and we are still 
upon the road. It is impossible now to distinguish 
objects around us, or to state with any certainty 
the moment we may find ourselves deposited at the 
bottom of a precipice ; so that in this uncomfortable 
mood of mind, our only consolation is our sure-footed 
animals, and the recklessness of the guide, who, inured 
to like hardships from infancy, plods along in the dark 
half asleep upon his mule, quite certain that whatever 
happens it will not be for want of care or instinct on 
the part of the animal. 

By and by, a joyful sound in our dark solitude, is 
heard the distant barking of some village dog, and 



HUNGRY TROOPS OF JACKALS. 



205 



even our very horses prick up their ears, as a mark of 
recognition. But this only lasts for a few seconds ; the 
dog stops barking, and the silence is more intense than 
ever, till our situation is rendered less enviable by the 
fact of our finding ourselves surrounded by hungry 
packs of yelling jackals, while the frightened horses 
huddle closer together, as though for mutual security, 
and our guide fires off his pistol to dismay the intruders. 
In an instant their yelling is hushed, and we can 
easily guess their numbers by the pattering noise of 
their feet, as they beat a retreat over the mountain 
sides. There is a sudden flash followed by the distant 
report of fire-arms : our guide's pistol has been 
heard and responded to by some of the natives of the 
village ; two minutes afterwards we can distinctly hear 
the jingling of goat's bells, indicating that there is a 
pen somewhere in this neighbourhood. Still the dark- 
ness continues as impenetrable as ever ; yet the horses 
grope their way through it with miraculous precision. 
There is more barking of dogs, and this time an indis- 
tinct hum of human voices, when passing round a 
projecting angle in the road, we come upon a sudden 
glare of light ; and there stands a solitary and half- 
ruined old building where the hubbub of voices is 
very great. 

Stopping to inquire the cause, we learn that some 
shepherds, who made this ruin a dwelling place for the 
summer, have been subjected to the roguish incursions 
of the jackals, and that very moment they have dis- 



206 



ARRIVAL AT AINAB. 



covered the loss of a fine fat hen, many days reckoned 
upon as the principal ingredient of a feast destined to 
be held here some day next week. Leaving the irate 
shepherds to adopt plans for retaliating upon the 
jackals, we pass down a steep ravine, and arriving at 
the bottom, find ourselves in the centre of the village 
of our destination. // harrfdl Allah! exclaims our 
guide, as he dismounts wearily from his jaded animal. 
We follow his example, in every sense too happy to 
think that we have arrived safe in limb, and where 
unbounded hospitality makes ample compensation for 
our sufferings. 

The house at which we are welcome is the property 
of some relation of Abou Shein, and is in all respects 
similar to that which we occupied at K'farchima. 
Nevertheless it affords us shelter equal to the best 
castle in the land, and as the proprietor looks upon 
our visit in the light of a very high honour, nothing 
is left undone which can in any way contribute 
to our comfort. But our new host's pleasure is only 
suffered to be of very brief duration, for we have 
barely divested ourselves of our boots, and adopted 
comfortable slippers, intending to loll upon the divan, 
and enjoy with unspeakable relish a cup of the very 
veritable mocha berry, before the news of our arrival 
spreading through the village has reached the ears of 
Sheik ebn Hamdan, the hereditary chief of the Druses of 
the Houran; and he sends to claim his privilege, exclusive 
in this village, of entertaining such distinguished 



THE RECEPTION HALL OF THE SHEIK. 207 

guests as he chooses to invite. Had we any option, we 
would prefer remaining with Shein's relative, hut apart 
from personal considerations our refusal would not only 
offend the sheik, but might inflict some future injury 
upon our host and Shein ; so that we have no alternative 
but to get up and follow to the sheik's house, bag and 
baggage. As a matter of course the invitation extends 
to our guide and his relative. 

A few hundred steps bring us to the reception hall 
of the great man of the village. It differs only from 
the other houses in being rather more capacious, and 
boasting of a few more comforts and luxuries in the 
shape of furniture, but with respect to hospitality all 
are upon the same benevolent footing. Having gone 
through all tedious ceremonials, we take up our 
position for the evening, and are immediately served 
with refreshments; and the night being misty and 
chilly, large logs of wood are piled up on the fire in 
the centre of the room, and a congenial heat soon 
spreads itself around. 

So unbounded are the laws of hospitality in these 
mountains, that any benighted pedestrian who 
chooses to seek shelter is welcomed and provided with 
everything. Such being the case, and although the 
degrees of civility and attention vary according to the 
grade of the guest, a very heterogeneous assortment of 
travellers and wayfarers is assembled in this reception 
hall when we are introduced ; and as the night wears 
on, this number is gradually augmented by casual pas- 



208 



PRINCELY HOSPITALITY. 



sengers, to all of whom the blazing fire is a source of 
comfort and attraction. 

The formalities gone through upon these occasions 
are so simple and so nearly bordering upon rudeness, 
that it would rather astonish the most hospitable soul 
in Europe, were his guests to introduce themselves 
after a like abrupt fashion. 

A dusty traveller, worn with the fatigues of the day, 
walks into the yard sans ceremonie, and depositing his 
stick and bundle in a most convenient corner, makes 
known to the attendants that he has come there to pass 
the night; the servants intimate this fact to the sheik, 
and the master of the house replies, " He is welcome f 
this is the password for his admission to solace himself, 
seated by the fire ; and forthwith entering and saluting 
all present, he takes up his position for the evening. 
If he be poor and in want of food, the menials of the 
sheik will supply him with what is necessary, and 
should there be space, allot him a corner, where he 
may wrap himself in his meshlah and go to sleep till 
morning; but in most instances house room and 
warmth are all that these pilgrims seek ; they carry 
their wallets with them, and upon the contents, usually 
bread and cheese and a few onions, make a frugal but 
contented repast, invariably with all the refined 
samples of Oriental etiquette, offering to share the 
same with all those present. 

With them is verified the proverb that civility never 
costs anything; on the contrary, it often contributes to 



SHEIK EBN II AM DAN. 



209 



make their meal more palatable and companionable, 
for five or six of these worthies travelling in different 
directions, and each supplied with his peculiar stock of 
provisions, partake of their supplies simultaneously, and 
spreading their frugal all upon the floor, invite each 
other to help themselves. One may chance to have a 
few cucumbers, another some chilies, a third cheese, a 
fourth fine large onions; and so what is lacking to one 
is supplied from the wallet of the others, — a splendid 
species of freemasonry which exists only amongst these 
simple people of a land through ages renowned for its 
princely hospitality. 

After we have rested awhile, the sheik puts his feet 
into his slippers, and rising up from his seat courteously 
wishes us good night, and withdraws to the precincts of 
his private house. We shall see no more of him till 
breakfast time to-morrow morning, but he has only with- 
drawn himself the better to superintend our personal 
comforts; for if we could step behind the scene we 
should find him hurrying on the preparations for our 
supper, and perhaps adding a dish or two which had 
been overlooked by his usually careful wife; then also 
he issues orders relative to our bedding material, and is 
careful that we shall be supplied with the best aired 
and most costly counterpanes, those kept apart 
expressly for the occasional use of distinguished 
guests. 

Meanwhile the servants have made preparations for 
serving our repast, and by the time that this has been 

p 



210 



AN ASSEMBLY OF NATIVES. 



duly discussed, all the other natives who are guests 
have finished their frugal meal and taken up a position 
round the fire until such time as the lateness of the 
hour or inclination to sleep shall urge them to seek 
their respective dormitories. The servants, having 
supplied us with everything necessary for our wants, 
leaving a burdhac of water in the room, and heaping 
up the fire afresh, withdraw themselves for the night; 
then ensues that quiet harmless gossiping enjoyment 
which a native considers as the acme of kef, and when, 
with all becoming decorum and decency, with low and 
half-smothered laughs, or whispered exclamations, they 
recite or listen to tales of personal adventure or the 
more romantic and inexhaustible themes of wild Eastern 
fables, which never can tire them though repeated and 
listened to night after night. 

On the present occasion, then, are assembled natives 
of several of the chief towns and villages of the moun- 
tains, and in the patriotic estimation of each nothing can 
rival or surpass his own particular birthplace. Yet whilst 
arguing about the comparative worth and beauties, the 
richness of soil and general wealth of each other's 
native town, they never transgress the law of civility 
and etiquette by rude contradictions or denials, though 
they sometimes rake up bygone events connected with 
peculiar spots, which act as a damper upon the eulogies 
bestowed upon them, and extort laughter from even 
those warmest in praise. 

Amongst others there is a servant of the Emir, who 



THE ARABIC LANGUAGE. 



211 



is enthusiastic in his description of the palace at Bet-il- 
Deen, whilst an eloquent peasant dilates upon the 
scenery of Deir-il-Kamar ; and as for a descriptive sketch 
each may be reckoned admirable, we cannot do better 
than recount some of them as nearly verbatim as the 
translation will admit, premising always that so beau- 
tiful and unlimited is the flow of the Arabic language 
that the original must lose materially in being 
translated into any other tongue. 



2 J 2 



CHAPTER XVI. 

BEAUTY OF THE EMIR'S PALACE AT BET-IL-DEEN — BOUNTIES OF 
NATURE — BEAUTIFUL SCENERY — PROLIFIC NATURE OF THE SOIL 

— EXTERIOR VIEW OF THE PALACE — PICTURESQUE GROUPS OF 
VISITORS— INTERIOR OF THE PALACE —OPULENCE OF THE EMIR 

— OUTBREAK BETWEEN THE MAN OF BET-IL-DEEN AND THE 
PEASANT— SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENCE — DEIR-IL-KAMAR — ABUSED 
HOSPITALITY — ABOU SHEIN — SURNAMES NOT USED BY THE 
DRUSES. 

The social hours, swift- wing' d unnoticed fleet; 
Each tells the unco's that he sees or hears; 

They round the ingle form a circle wide. 

Burns. 

"I do not know what place there is in all the Ard-il- 
Sultan" commences the servant of the Emir, " which I 
can mention as a fit illustration to give my audience 
some fair notion of the excellent beauty and mag- 
nificence of Bet-il-Deen, the residence of his highness 
the Emir, my worshipful master! If you talk of Bey- 
rout, I can only say that it is not fit to be admitted in 
the same catalogue. Il-Sham, with all its renown, in 
my opinion, is but a wilderness compared to Bet-il- 
Deen; and as for the- country of you Frange, I have 
never visited that distant land to enable me to form a 



BEAUTY OF THE EMIRS PALACE. 



213 



comparison between the two, but everybody tells me 
that, in the first instance, you gentlemen of Londra 
seldom see the sunshine in your country, never meet 
with a tree, and that flower gardens and fountains are 
almost unknown ; therefore I am at liberty to say that 
Londra is inferior in beauty and natural scenery to the 
humblest village of these mountains. 

"But to give you some faint idea of that which 
composes the intrinsic merit and beauty of the Emir's 
residence, I must tell you that nature is pourtrayed 
around in countless variety, and exquisite form and 
shape. First of all we have the mountains, not such as 
we are accustomed to in this lower altitude, but regular, 
large, splendid mountains, whose peaks seem to pierce 
into the very skies, and whose summits are morning 
and evening covered with gold, and fifty other colours, 
as the sun rises or sets. Then there is the white peer- 
less snow, spread like a nuptial garment over the barren 
heights to hide their uncouth nakedness from view, 
whilst in summer they impart delightful coolness to the 
atmosphere and supply a never-ceasing source for the 
endless torrents and streams that rush in perpetual 
cascades over the loftier precipices, and wending through 
glen and over mountain side, feed nature luxuriantly, 
and make spontaneous verdure to clothe the country in 
an emerald vesture all the year round. 

" Then up the sides of these gigantic mountains 
grow stately trees, taller than I can give you a fair 
idea of, and with wide-spreading branches thickly 



214 



BOUNTIES OF NATURE. 



foliaged, where birds of all hues congregate at the mid- 
day hours and make echoes resound to their merry 
chaunt as they flutter from bough to bough, or are 
rocked on the loftier branches. And then when the 
fierce sun shines hotly upon the mountain sides, or is 
reflected like a breath of flame from the smooth surface 
of the rocky precipice, then it is a priceless pleasure 
which none but those who have experienced can appre- 
ciate, to leave the toil and labour of digging in the 
harder soil, or making aqueducts to guide the streams 
by proper channels to the gardens below, and seek 
shelter and repose, if only for a few minutes, under the 
shade of those umbrageous trees. Seated there at the 
quiet hour of noon, who can tell the pleasure of listening 
to the murmuring voice of countless waters, whilst 
honey-laden bees buzz drowsily from bush to bush, and 
gaudy butterflies expand their wings under the brilliant 
light of day. Health and strength are the messengers 
that ride by to the valleys below, seated between the 
wings of the mountain breeze, whilst every purling 
stream carries upon its bosom assurances of wealth and 
plenty. 

" If nature be so bountiful in scattering blessings all 
around, how can man help being happy and contented % 
How can I refrain, when I raise the eyebrows of my 
understanding and peer through the eyes of memory, 
from exclaiming Mashalla! there never was such a 
country upon the face of the earth as that which sur- 
rounds the Emirs palace ! Whichever way we look 



BEAUTIFUL SCEXERY. 



215 



there is the same profusion of waters, and forests, and 
cultivation clothing the hills on every side. Around us. 
in the centre, at an elevation only a little lower than 
ourselves, rises abruptly a precipitous rocky hill, with ivy 
clustering round its sides, and stunted fig trees issuing 
from its fissures, crowned on the top by the palace of 
the Emir. TTe seem as though, stepping from the shadow 
of the tree where we are reclining, we could jump 
lightly into the very centre of the capacious court yard, 
which extends in front of the palace, covering the whole 
level surface of the hill ; yet between us is a yawning 
precipice, and only by a circuitous route of some miles 
duration, may we reach the entrance to the palace. 

" Looking over the top of the palace itself, the whole 
of our admiration is concentrated on the beautiful 
picture that is presented us in the distance ; only here 
the mountains form themselves into a funnel many 
miles in extent, and up the sides of this funnel clam- 
ber, in richest luxuriance, grape vines, figs, and other 
delicious fruit trees, till in the distance the brighter 
green of their nearer aspect verges into orange and 
obscurer brown tints, and, finally, the haze of distance 
gives a violet hue to the intervening plains,- — beyond 
that we look upon the open sea bounded by a distant 
azure horizon, and with waters of a deep blue tint 
indicating the fresh breeze sweeping over its cool 
surface. 

"But we descend by the rocky pathway to mount up 
the hill, and visit the palace itself. Our footsteps are 



216 



PROLIFIC NATURE OF THE SOIL. 



strewed with richly-scented mountain flowers and 
violets in abundance, whilst the camphor plant scents 
the air around. Water is roaring overhead, and gushing 
down the sides ; water is streaming under feet, or fall- 
ing in foaming cataracts down the sides of impassable 
rocks. From behind every stone and bush there is a 
little stream trickling, and plants that love moisture 
clothe the barren surface of stony rocks with elegant 
verdure ; and the further down we go, the more 
prolific the earth and the mountain-sides around us. 
No spot, not an inch of ground, is suffered to remain 
idle. Cucumbers and water-melons, vegetables of 
twenty different kinds, spring up and bear fruit where 
men would least expect it of them, whilst ever and 
anon we pass under the shade of wreathed arcades, 
formed by prolific vines clambering over fig trees and 
pomegranates, and so stretching over their shoots, 
till they embrace the mountain-side ; whilst bunches 
of ripe grapes are suspended over our heads, and 
might almost fall into our mouths as we look up to 
admire and praise them. By and by we get to the 
lowest level of this altitude, and before us is a lake fed 
by fifty cataracts, yet deceitfully calm on its surface ; 
whilst the under-currents are whirlpools and rapids 
which rush madly over the ledges of this surface, and 
inundate the lower valleys with water. Skirting by 
the borders of this lake, we look up as we go along, 
to contemplate the various aspects of the hilly 
summits around us, many of which are crowned with 



EXTERIOR VIEW OF THE PALACE. 



217 



picturesque little villages, and overhung with a profusion 
of grape vines. 

" Immediately overhead, like a stately eagle perched 
upon a lofty lair, stand the hold outlines of the palace; 
and clambering up these hill sides, we reach the summit 
and enter upon the court yard, where, to our left hand, 
is a fountain; before us stands the lofty building itself; 
to our right extend a number of flat-roofed buildings 
of every height and conceivable shape, with balcony 
over balcony, and trellised windows clustering with 
jessamines and other creeping plants. Prominent, how- 
ever, and vastly superior to these in size, stands the 
palace, with tall slender pillars extending from the 
very base up to the roof of the building, with a 
splendid marble staircase leading to the apartments 
occupied exclusively by the prince's harem. 

" It is a w r onderful sight on any festive occasions or 
high days and holidays, to stand by the fountain and 
contemplate the picturesque attitude and costumes of 
the various groups assembled in the court yard, and 
who are congregated here to pay their respects to the 
great man of the mountains, waiting patiently till the 
turn of each arrives to be ushered into his presence. 
But few of these have come up thus far on foot. As 
most of them are men of some estate or calling, the 
animals they rode are of the best of their kind, and 
the housings and trappings the most costly they can 
sport ; in addition to this they are all decked out 
in the richest holiday attire, and the effect produced is 



218 



PICTURESQUE GROUPS OF VISITORS. 



brilliant in the extreme. Here, in addition to casual 
strangers, you meet with emissaries from all the five 
sects inhabiting the mountains ; for we have Druses, 
Armenians, Greeks, Maronites, and Metuales, decked 
out in colours of every imaginable hue, from the sombre 
robes of the Armenian to the many-coloured over-coat 
of the spruce Metuale. Cords fastened to strong iron 
rivets fixed into the solid walls, are stretched across 
from side to side, and to these are tethered, with all 
the precision of a cavalry regiment, the horses, mules, 
etc., of the visitors, whilst camels cluster in groups 
round the fountain, and patiently chew the cud until 
their services are again put into requisition. 

<k Watching the effect of sun and shade upon these 
groups, and the beautiful result produced by the deep 
intervening valleys and the more distant violet- 
coloured hills, we pass along the court yard and enter 
at the grand entrance door, where guards armed with 
lances and long muskets give us the pass. There we 
enter upon suite after suite of magnificent apartments, 
with flooring of marble let in, like mosaic work, with 
patterns of flowers and birds, represented by particles 
of various coloured marble, whilst around the rooms 
are costly divans covered with the richest carpeting 
produced by the skill of the Turcoman. Passing 
through these we come upon a second court with 
fountains spouting high up into the sunlight, beautiful 
shrubs and flowers growing round the borders, and 
gold and silver fish sporting in the basins. At the 



INTERIOR OF THE PALACE. 



219 



further end, supported upon elegant slim pillars, is 
an open arcade, passing which we enter upon a beau- 
tiful saloon painted by the most approved artists from 
Stamboul. In each corner of the room, spouting out 
into marble basins, are pure jets of water : and seated 
on a costly divan, attired in long silk robes, are the 
numerous Katibs employed by the prince, and each 
of these gentlemen carry, as insignia of their office, a 
long silver inkstand highly decorated with filigree work. 
In addition to these the slaves and the officers of the 
household usually wait here to be within hearing of 
any summons requiring their presence, and at the 
further end, partitioned off by a rich damask curtain 
and considerably elevated, is a carpeted platform, with 
a divan covered over with crimson velvet. Here the 
Emir sits to receive his guests, or to give instructions 
to his officers and servants, and here, during several 
hours each day, he carries on the affairs connected with 
the goverrnent of the mountains. 

" If I were to tell you of the value of the magnificent 
mouthpieces belonging to the pipes used by the Emir, 
or if I were to recount to you the costly gold and silver- 
headed narghiles from which the Katibs and officers 
imbibe smoke all day long, I am afraid that their 
description would be beyond the reach of your com- 
prehension, or that you would set me down as an idle 
babbler of fabulous tales. But what shall I say when 
I come to narrate the costliness of the finjans and 
coffee-cups so plentiful within the palace at Bet-il- 



220 



OPULENCE OF THE EMIR. 



Deen ? I should be afraid to estimate the value of the 
precious stones set in these finjans, and I do not know 
where the clever workmanship displayed in their make 
can be equalled. All I know is, that these things exist, 
and that I have seen and felt them day after day, for 
have I not been ten years in the prince's service, and 
have I not filled pipes and served coffee every day 
during that long interval \ So I think that I must be 
allowed to be a judge of these matters; and if anybody 
here doubts my word, I will lend him my horse and he 
can go and visit Bet-il-Deen and judge for himself." 

Having brought his description to a close, the Emir's 
servant looks round with an air of defiance, whilst, 
fresh filling his pipe, he takes a live coal in his hand 
and puts it into the bowl, rvobody attempts to con- 
travert what he has told us, whilst Abou Shein whispers 
confidentially in our ears, that, if anything, the man has 
underrated the magnificence of the place. The peasant, 
however, keeps his own counsel, and secretly preferring 
the town of his nativity, launches forth into a rhapsody 
concerning Deir-il-Kamar. 

" My country," says the peasant, " is situated only 
on the opposite side of the valley where the Emir's 
palace stands, and though it is very true that we cannot 
boast of so much gold and silver, so many yards of 
damask and velvet, or in fact, anything like opulent 
luxuriance, still, speaking with all due respect, I would 
not exchange places, no not with the most fortunate 
man basking in the favour of the prince." 



THE MAN OF BET-IL-DEEN AND THE PEASANT. 221 



Here the man from Betil-Deen starts up into an 
angry posture, and asks what the fellow means by such 
insolent insinuations, — a parcel of clod-hopping labourers 
only fit to wash the hoofs of the horses belonging to 
courtiers at the prince's palace ! The peasant, equally 
angry, immediately retorts that the prince and the 
courtiers are all great and good men in their way, but 
that as for the servant he is nothing more or less than 
an Abel, a cringing flattering slave. Here the usual 
decorum is very nearly being outraged, and it is with 
difficulty that we can interpose our authority to quell 
the outbreak. Having, however, heard all that the man 
from Bet-il-Deen has got to relate to us, we threaten 
to expel him from the room if he does not hold his 
peace ; and he, taking huff at the interference, retires 
speedily into a further corner, pretending straightway 
to fall into a deep sleep. 

Then the peasant continues, after having first 
reiterated all he has already said, " Deir-ihKamar, 
gnabkoom, is situated at the very head of that valley 
which forms the funnel already so much admired by the 
man from Eet-il-Deen, and beyond which are perceptible 
the plains and the distant sea. The description he gave 
of the fertility of that spot is not at all overrated; never 
was earth more productive — never did a little toil pro- 
duce a speedier or more plentiful harvest ; and at all 
times, even when the intensest calm reigns over other 
parts of the mountains, we have a pleasant breeze, full 
of health and vigour, whistling up the funnel. From 



222 



SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENCE. 



this fact alone our town is considered about the 
healthiest in that neighbourhood, and I am sure that 
the men, women, and children carry about with them 
in their persons ample proofs of this. Look at me, for 
instance," here the peasant sits up in a straight pos- 
ture ; " I never knew what an hour's sickness was from 
as far back as I can recollect, and if anything adds 
happiness and pleasure to the fact, it is the spirit of 
independence which reigns within my breast. I do not 
owe a man a siDgle para. I have got my own garden 
and my own house, and when I go out to work I am 
master of my own time, working with the gratifying 
certainty that all the fruit of my labour is for the 
benefit of myself and my family; and when I have done 
working, and get tired for awhile of my garden and 
the mountains, then I take the produce and put it upon 
the back of a donkey, and I start away to Damascus, 
there to sell or barter away those goods for anything 
the house may be in want of, just as upon the present 
occasion, hearing that there are some Franks purchasing 
silk at Shemlan, I am going thither to-morrow to see if 
I cannot get a few more piastres than I usually realize. 

" I think," continues the peasant, leering slily at the 
dark heap in the corner, " that is a more pleasant life 
to lead than to be obliged to fill pipes, from morning to 
night, for great men and their friends." Hereupon a dis- 
contented groan gives evidence that the expelled servant 
is only shamming sleep, and Abou Shein whispers to 
the peasant to be more cautious for the future, as his 



DEIR-IL-KAMAR. 



223 



words are bordering upon treason, but the peasant only 
the more lustily affirms that he and all his fellow- 
townsmen are free as the air they breathe. 

" In Deir-il-Kamar," he continues, " we number about 
five hundred Druses, twice as many Maronites, and only 
thirty Turks ; but all these are industrious people, and 
as everybody knows, our town is considered as the capital 
of the Druse country in the Lebanon. Our bazaars are 
the best to be met with within many a mile, and there 
is no people that can excel us in working the rich 
abayas, (silk gowns interwoven with gold and silver,) 
worn only by the great men of the land, some of 
which are sold at nearly two purses of five hundred 
piastres each. Our houses are all built of solid stone, 
and even the poorest among us can afford to entertain a 
dozen strangers for the evening. All the people of the 
mountains flock to us to buy many of the requisites, 
and some of the luxuries, of life ; and we grow the best 
tobacco, the best grapes, the best figs, and the best 
apricots in the mountain. Even people come from 
Damascus to purchase the latter, for notwithstanding 
their famed Moushmoush lousi (sweet-kerneled apricots), 
they find that our fruit is the best to make K'amared- 
deen, which, in my opinion, took its name from 
having been first made at Deir-il-Kamar. 

"I should like to know," demands the peasant, as 
though asking a question of his opponent, " what the 
great sheiks and emirs would do if it were not for 
our industry and cultivation ; where could they find 



224 



ABUSED HOSPITALITY. 



abayas, where dainties for their table, where vege- 
tables and fruit, and many other necessaries and 
luxuries, if it were not for the natives of Deir-il-Kamar? 
But besides all this, the face of nature around is more 
beautiful than in any other part I have visited or seen, 
and who can deny that the workmanship of the Creator 
is infinitely superior to the mightiest efforts of us 
miserable creatures. And for the matter of that, Deir- 
il-Kamar can boast of a palace almost equal to that of 
Bet-il-Deen. It is not kept in like order, because the 
prince does not condescend to come thither and dwell 
among us. Perhaps he is right, for his isolated castle on 
the rock is a safeguard against the troubles that some- 
times break out in these mountains. At any rate I 
for one rejoice that he keeps away, for we have no 
restraint put upon us, and our people never learn that 
lankering, cringing, courtier fashion which degrades the 
liberty of man and renders his existence miserable." 

With this opinion loudly expressed, the peasant 
informs us that he has had his say, and doubtless in 
that last sentence was embodied the private opinion of 
every Druse dwelling upon the mountains. It is not 
always, however, that they are so bold in their state- 
ments, but here, under the roof of one of their own 
sheiks, the man's words are sacred and not to be repeated. 
Of this fact the Emir's servant is well aware, for if he 
breathed but a syllable of what he heard here, the whole 
mountains would be up in arms to avenge abused 
hospitality. 



ABO IT SHEIX. 



225 



By the hour that these two had concluded speaking, 
time had stolen rapid marches upon the night, and 
numerous cocks crowing in the neighbourhood warned 
us that these clarions had already shaken off first sleep 
and scented the early breath of morning as it crept 
silently over the face of slumbering nature. Somebody 
asks Abou Shein why he does not stand up for his 
native village, and declare, in his turn, that nothing 
can surpass or rival it ; but he says that the best proof 
of good fruit is the tasting thereof, and that as we have 
favoured him with our company for some days, it is for 
us, and not for him, to sound the trumpet of its praise. 
So we gladden the old man's heart by telling him that 
if true hospitality and kindness can shed lustre over a 
spot, then, indeed, his native village may shine like a 
bright jewel amongst the ordinary pearls and brilliants 
that surround it. And so, contented beyond measure, 
with this flattering esteem, each one bethinks him of 
repose for the night. 

But before retiring under our comfortable warm 
coverlids we have one simple question to propound to 
our guide and friend. We ask him why everybody 
calls him Abou Shein, and not simply Shein \ " Ya 
side," replies the old man, " before I had any sons, 
everybody in this neighbourhood used to know me as 
Ahmet ebn Shein, (Ahmet the son of Shein,) a necessary 
distinction where there are so many of the same name ; 
but when Allah blessed my lot, and gave me my first- 
born son, then I called the child after his grandfather, 

Q 



226 SURNAMES _NOT USED BY THE DRUSES. 



and myself assumed the proud distinction of Abou 
(father)/' From which reply, we are led to conclude 
that surnames are not used by the Druses : they distin- 
guish lineal descent, by alternately taking the name of 
father and son ; besides in some instances having 
names which bear reference to their peculiar callings or 
profession in life. 



•2*27 



CHAPTER XVII. 

JERUSALEM-MANUFACTURED SOAP — PREPARATIONS FOR THE HUNT — 
FIRST APPEARANCE OF GAME— EASTERN HAWKING — ABUNDANCE 
OF GAME — A HERD OF GAZELLES — HUNTING THE GAZELLE — THE 
FALCONER — ORIENTAL FORETHOUGHT — SHOOTING THE BECCA- 
FIGOES — DEPARTURE OF THE FALCONER — APPROACH TO BET- 
ROUT — PARTING WITH THE DRUSE. 

The falconer drives a merry sport, 
Through the pathless fields on high ; 

The silver bells on the falcon's feet 
Are making a low glad sound. 

T. K. Heryey. 

Farewell, good friend — I speak the word with vain but fond regret — 
It may be long ere we shall meet again as we have met. 

Mrs. Embury. 

Early in the morning we wake up to a strange 
hissing sound, not unlike the surging of the ocean 
against a rocky beach. Being more than half asleep, 
and imagining ourselves in some boat on the point of 
shipwreck, we jump up in a great hurry, much to the 
amusement of Abou Shein, who assures us that the 
noise proceeds from the grooms in the service of the 
Sheik, who, at this early hour, are currycombing the 
cattle and accompanying the process with a strange 



228 JERUSALEM-MANUFACTURED SOAP. 

guttural hiss. We are, however, rather glad than other- 
wise, of the interruption to our slumbers, because day 
has already broken upon the mountain-top, and we have 
many miles of pilgrimage to perform before night closes 
our rambles amongst the Druses. 

Stepping into the front court-yard, we find the ser- 
vants of our host already at their avocations, and these 
immediately bring us basins and ewers of water to 
assist us at our morning ablutions. Our host cannot 
boast of honey soap or brown Windsor, but in their lieu 
he presents us with what is very highly esteemed among 
all the natives, hard little slabs of Jerusalem-manu- 
factured soap, representing a saint on either side, and 
which is very rough and gritty to the hand, without 
possessing any intrinsic merits which can recommend it 
for purifying purposes. However, we must consider our- 
selves honoured by being permitted to use it, as the soap 
itself is usually kept like a relic; so having dispensed 
with this portion of our toilet, and availed ourselves of 
the services of another servant carrying a wide loose 
Turkish towel over his arm, coffee is handed round, 
and in a few minutes we are ready to make a start. So 
leaving our compliments and thanks for the master of 
the house, who has not yet made his appearance from 
his dormitory, and distributing a few piastres baksheesh 
amongst the servants, we climb up into our saddles, and 
ride away in search of a day's amusement. 

Shein's relative, who, on further inquiry, turns out 
to be the identical individual who so much interested 



PREPARATIONS FOR THE HUNT. 



229 



himself in restoring Shein to the favour of his father- 
in-law. and who carries about with him, stamped upon 
every feature, the marks of true benevolence, volunteers 
upon this occasion to accompany us for the day, bring- 
ing with him one of those famous hawks for which the 
East is so celebrated, and which after many years of toil 
has been perfectly trained for all purposes of the hunt. 
We ourselves are well provided with fowling pieces, and 
whatever may assist in contributing to a day's sport; so 
that upon the whole we start with fair prospects of 
finding ample occupation and amusement. Unfortu- 
nately we are unprovided with dogs, a very requisite 
accompaniment to sporting in the East, not so much 
from the difficulty of starting birds, as from the almost 
impossibility of recovering those wounded without their 
assistance. Shein's friend, however, consoles us for this 
want by assuring us that his hawk is so well broken in 
that not only will no wounded birds escape, but any 
that may chance to avoid our aim will be captured by 
the rapid and unerring flight of the hawk. 

The early part of the morning we devote to the keen 
enjoyment of the delightful breezes breathing over the 
mountains, and there is a freshness in all nature which 
is indescribable. The grateful earth, teeming with 
copious dew, emits a pleasant savour, whilst the bushes 
of briars are clustered with freshly-blown flowers newly 
developing their beauties of tint and odour; and secure 
from the destructive hand of the sportsman, myriads 
of larks and other smaller songsters soar up in the air, 



230 



FIRST APPEARANCE OF GAME. 



or balancing themselves upon the wavy branches of 
flowering shrubs sing with all heart and soul a welcome 
to the bright summer sun. 

By and by, as our path becomes more intricate, and 
shrubs and brushwood entangle ail the mountain sides, 
some startled hares, frightened from their haunts, dart 
across our path, and with almost lightning speed disap- 
pear beyond the limit of our visual horizon; but these 
give us warning that we have now entered upon those 
spots where game may be expected. The old man, 
holding his hoodwinked hawk, liberates its head and 
eyes from the partial blindness that surrounded it, 
whilst the eager bird, fluttering with vain anxiety, seeks 
to disentangle its horny talons from the iron grasp of 
the falconer. >Ve ourselves dismount, and leaving our 
horses to the care of the servants, proceed cautiously 
on foot; the old man, however, still retains his saddle, 
for from that higher elevation he can better distinguish 
the flight of birds, and better fling his falcon high up 
into the air. 

We have not gone far before there is a sudden 
fluttering amongst the bushes, and up starts a whole 
covey of fine red-legged partridges ; two seconds to 
take aim, one second to pull the trigger, the mouths 
of our Mantons belch forth destruction; a cloud of 
smoke, a fluttering in the air, small feathers flying 
in twenty directions, and the result of our aim is 
proclaimed ; two fat partridges lie dead upon the road, 
whilst three more of the covey, proceeding with tracer- 



EASTERN HAWKING. 



231 



tain flight, have dropped down ravines, or amongst 
impregnable bushes. Now, first having reloaded our 
empty barrels, so as to be ready for another emergency, 
we then follow up the tract indicated to us by the 
old man on horseback, who has not as yet let fly his 
fluttering hawk. 

Now, however, first showing the slain partridges to 
the hungry falcon, then hiding them in a bag, he takes 
the bird in his right hand and flings it as high as he 
can in the air ; and there for a moment paralysed, the 
hawk seems lost to all consciousness, till gradually 
expanding his wings, and glaring from his piercing eyes, 
with a wild scream the bird soars higher and higher 
through the atmosphere overhead, till finally making a 
pause, he stoops down towards the earth again, and 
swoops with electric speed right down the valley 
beneath us ; then as we listen to the rapid movement 
of his wings, the small bells suspended to his feet 
tinkle again in the air, but the bird has disappeared. 

The quiet demeanour of the old man changes 
suddenly into a frenzy; he shouts, and screams, and 
hollows after the stray bird, speaking in that strange 
language familiar only between falconer and falcon ; 
and finding all these efforts unattended with success 
he takes a small whistle from his waistband, and 
sounds a long and peculiarly shrill whistle. Now all 
eyes are bent down over the mountain side, trying 
to pierce through the thick foliage that secludes the 
bottom from view ; there is a rustling amongst those 



232 



EASTERX HAWKING. 



leaves, and we can distinctly hear the tinkling of the 
hawk's bells, then the bird soars up through an 
aperture in the foliage, and flying to a projecting 
point half way up the ravine sides, he rests awhile; 
for the hawk is weary, and suspended to his talons, 
we can clearly perceive the ruffled feathers of the 
wounded bird. A second call upon the whistle brings 
him back to his master's hand, and there he deposits 
the booty he had searched after and found, with only 
two infallible eyes. 

Now the old man fondly strokes the bird on its 
back, and whispers to him all kinds of encomiums; then 
unsheathing a knife that hangs by his girdle, he cuts 
the throat of the yet warm bird, and suffers the hawk 
to satiate his hunger from the flowing stream. And 
now, having rested awhile, the hawk is again launched 
forth to seek for the remaining wounded fugitives. This 
time his flight is not so high as before, for instinct 
has taught the hawk that where prey was already 
found, other may be lurking in the neighbourhood; 
so he sweeps over the surface of mountain and vale, 
and under the leafy boughs of the shady trees; suddenly 
he darts up higher into the air again, and at that 
instant two birds, heavy on the wing, flutter up from the 
bushes, and fly over the sides of the nearest mountain. 

But the hawk has paused but awhile in his pursuit ; 
faster than an arrow shot from a bow he follows on 
their track ; one bird flutters for an instant in his horny 
grasp, and then relinquished, falls heavily dead to 



ABUNDANCE OF GAME. 



233 



the earth. We scramble up, and pick up the dead 
bird where it fell, whilst the hawk, having followed 
up and overtaken the third, brings it with stately 
triumph back to the falconer ; and then the old man, 
chuckling with delight at our evident surprise and 
admiration, tells us that this is nothing in comparison 
to the exploits of his favorite bird. 

" By and by," quoth he, " if you have patience, I will 
show you what the hawk can do;" so, not to weary the 
bird too much before we arrive at the plains, he hood- 
winks it again, and we ourselves, continuing on foot, pick 
up such game as chance and our good aim brings within 
the reach of our guns. The variety is great, for, 
besides partridges and hares, which are very plentiful, 
we have numbered woodcocks and pigeons, quails, 
thrushes, and many minor sorts of birds. By and by 
the sun grows too hot for us to pursue the sport any 
longer; besides which, the birds themselves have 
retired for the day from their mountain haunts, and 
are gone to the plains or elsewhere in search of forage. 

Under a stately range of fir trees, not being many 
miles distant from the village of Ain Ainoub, the 
road descends suddenly and abruptly down the moun- 
tain sides into the deep and pleasant valley, which 
is intersected by the river Damoor; and arriving 
on the surface of the level ground of this valley, we 
trot on to the banks of the river, and there descending, 
call for a rest. Our horses and ourselves are weary, 
and both require refreshment and repose. 



234 



A HERD OF GAZELLES. 



Whilst reposing here, our old friend with the falcon 
informs us that at a short distance from this spot is a 
khan called Nebbi Youni, from a supposition that the 
prophet Jonas was here landed bj the whale; but the 
old man is very indignant when we identify the place 
with a fable, and declare to him that similar sights 
are to be seen at Gaza and Scanderoon. But his good 
humour is speedily recovered by reverting to the sub- 
ject of the exploits and cleverness of his falcon. This 
reminds him that we have not much time to waste in 
idle talk, as the greater heats will drive the gazelles 
from the plains to their mountain retreats and lose us 
the opportunity of enjoying the most sportsmanlike 
amusement in Syria; accordingly, bestriding our 
animals again, we ford the river at that point where a 
bridge once stood. 

We have barely proceeded twenty minutes before 
the keen eye of the falconer has descried a herd of 
gazelles quietly grazing in the distance. Immediately 
he reins in his horse, and enjoining silence, instead of 
riding at them, as we might have felt inclined to do, 
he skirts along the banks of the river so as to cut olf, 
if possible, the retreat of these fleet animals where the 
banks are narrowest, though very deep, but which 
would be cleared at a single leap by the gazelles 
Having successfully accomplished this manoeuvre, he 
again removes the hood from the hawk and indicates 
to us that precaution is no longer necessary; accord- 
ingly, first adding a few slugs to the charges in our 



HUNTING THE GAZELLE. 



235 



barrels, we balance our guns in an easy posture, and 
giving the horses their reins, set off at full gallop, and 
with a loud hurrah, right towards the already startled 
gazelles. 

The timid animals, at first paralysed by our 
appearance, stand and gaze for a second terror-stricken 
at our approach; but their pause is only momentary, 
they perceive in an instant that the retreat to their 
favorite haunts has been secured, and so they dash 
wildly forward with all the fleetness of despair, 
coursing over the plain with no fixed refuge in view, 
and nothing but their fleetness to aid in their delivery. 
A stern chase is a long chase, and so, doubtless, on 
the present occasion it would prove with ourselves, for 
there is many and many a mile of level country before 
us, and our horses, though swift of foot, stand no 
chance in this respect with the gazelles. Now, how- 
ever, the old man has watched for a good opportunity 
to display the prowess and skill of his falconry; he has 
followed us only at a hand gallop, but the hawk, 
long inured to like pastime, stretches forth its neck 
eagerly in the direction of the flying prey, and being 
loosened from its pinions, sweeps up into the air like 
a shot, and passes overhead with incredible velocity. 
Five minutes more, and the bird has outstripped even 
the speed of the lightfooted gazelle ; we see him through 
the dust and haze that our own speed throws around 
us, hovering but an instant over the terrified herd : he 
has singled out his prey, and, diving with unerring 



23G 



HUNTING THE GAZELLE. 



aim, fixes his iron talons into the head of the terrified 
animal. 

This is the signal for the others to break up their 
orderly retreat, and to speed over the plain in every 
direction. Some, despite the danger that hovers on their 
track, make straight for their old and familiar haunts, 
and passing within twenty yards of where we ride, 
afford us an opportunity of displaying our skill as 
amateur huntsmen on horseback, nor does it require 
but little nerve and dexterity to fix our aim whilst 
our horses are tearing over the ground. However, the 
moment presents itself, the loud report of barrel after 
barrel startles the unaccustomed inmates of that 
unfrequented waste, one gazelle leaps twice its own 
height into the air, and then rolls over shot through 
the heart; another bounds on yet a dozen paces, but, 
wounded mortally, staggering, halts, and then falls 
to the ground. 

This is no time for us to pull in and see what is 
the amount of damage done, for the falcon, heedless 
of all surrounding incidents, clings firmly to the head 
of its terrified victim, flapping its strong wings awhile 
before the poor brute's terrified eyes, half blinding it 
and rendering its head dizzy, till after tearing round 
and round with incredible speed, the poor creature 
stops panting for breath, and overcome with excessive 
terror drops down fainting upon the earth. Now the 
the air resounds with the acclamations and hootings 
of the ruthless victors. 



THE FALCONER. 



237 



The old man is wild in his transports of delight. 
More certain of the prowess of his bird than ourselves, 
he has stopped awhile to gather together the fruits 
of our booty, and with these suspended to his saddle- 
bow, he canters up leisurely, shouting lustily the while 
the praises of his infallible hawk ; then getting down 
and hoodwinking the bird again, he first of all takes 
the precaution of fastening together the legs of the 
fallen gazelle, and then he humanely blows up into 
its nostrils. Gradually, the natural brilliancy returns 
to the dimmed eyes of the gazelle, then it struggles 
valiantly, but vainly, to disentangle itself from its 
fetters. Pitying its efforts, the falconer throws a 
handkerchief over its head, and securing this prize 
claims it as his own ; declaring that he will bear it 
home to his house in the mountains, where after a few 
weeks' kind treatment and care, it will become as 
domesticated and affectionate as a spaniel. 

Meanwhile Abou She in gathers together the fallen 
booty, and tying them securely with cords, fastens 
them behind his own saddle, declaring with a triumphant 
laugh that we shall return that evening to the city of 
Beyrout with such game as few sportsmen can boast 
of having carried thither in one day. But the horses 
have been so wearied by this hot pursuit that it would 
be cruel and dangerous not to give them an hour's 
leisure and pasturage, so their girths are all loosened 
and the bits being slipped from their mouths, they are 
left at liberty to graze to their heart's content upon 



238 



ORIENTAL FORETHOUGHT. 



the ample pasturage around ; whilst we ourselves 
proceeding to a fig tree growing by the banks of the 
Tamyrus (Damoor) avail ourselves of its scanty shade 
for an hour's repose. We have no carpets with us, no 
cushions, no luxuries ; but the raeshlahs of Shein and 
his friend, spread out upon the ground, with saddle 
bags answering as cushions, serve every bit as well for 
our purpose. 

With that forethought peculiar to the Orientals, Shein 
has come provided with every requisite for coffee and 
pipes. A few dry twigs fallen from the fig tree help 
speedily to ignite a fierce little fire, and upon this in 
less than five minutes is boiling our supply of coffee ; 
so refreshed beyond measure by this fragrant berry 
and cooled by the atmosphere from the rippling waters 
of the river, we loll back against the stem of the old 
fig tree, and prepare to amuse ourselves during our 
brief stay with the favourite Levantine pastime of 
shooting beccafigoes, that peculiar little bird which 
constitutes so dainty a dish for the epicure, and which 
subsists principally upon figs, being amazingly fat and 
tasty at the season when this fruit is ripe. 

To prepare for this minor havoc it is necessary that 
we load our guns with proportionately small charges of 
powder and shot, for, in the first instance, the bird is 
exceedingly diminutive; in the second place we shoot 
it from very short distances, never moving from 
where we are seated, but picking the birds off rapidly 
as they settle in the branches overhead. Near us are 



SHOOTING THE BECCAFIGOES. 



239 



several other bushes and trees which are evidently 
teeming with this peculiar species of bird, but we wish 
to entice them into our own immediate neighbourhood ; 
and upon our intimating this wish to our old friend the 
falconer, who seems to be an adept at all kinds of sport, 
he immediately resorts to the whistle used for recalling 
his hawk, and skilfully blowing into it forthwith pro- 
duces an admirable imitation of the peculiar little note 
of the beccafigo. 

This species of decoy answers our best expectations ; 
other birds, attracted by the note, immediately flock 
into the branches overhead, and we allow them there 
to congregate till ten or a dozen have fixed upon the 
same branch; then the report of our guns seals the 
warrant for their execution; they fall almost into our 
laps, six or eight at a time, and are forthwith trans- 
ferred to the capacious and already well-filled game bag. 
Others, frightened away by the noise, fly scared to 
the opposite side of the bank, but we reload our fowling 
pieces, and waiting patiently for five or ten minutes 
resume the decoy system once more. Again the note 
is speedily answered, the branches are filled with 
unconscious birds, and we, firing, reap the same results, 
so that by the time the hour has expired which we 
allotted to repose and refreshment, we have gathered 
from fifty to sixty of these delicate and much prized 
birds, which are here not so coy as in the more imme- 
diate and much-frequented environs of Beyrout. 

At last the hour of our departure has arrived; the 



240 



DEPARTURE OF THE FALCONER. 



old man and the Druse busy themselves in collecting 
together our animals and re-adjusting their saddles and 
bridles; then, as we re-mount again, the old falconer 
comes, and raising our hands to his lips, bids us a long 
and hearty farewell : his duties call him to his home 
again, and so thanking him heartily for the sport he has 
afforded us, we suffer him to depart, watching his 
diminishing figure, till having waded through the 
stream, he waves his hand to us in token of farewell, 
and disappears behind a rising ground. 

And now we, too, pursue our way from this wilder- 
ness to the haunts of man, our faithful guide, the Druse, 
still keeping us company, though we have no need of 
his further services, and have given him permission to 
return to his village; but he, in his strict sense of 
honour and integrity, would think his compact broken 
were he to leave us one second before we reach our 
starting point again. He says he undertook to accom- 
pany us in a tour through the Druse villages, and to 
bring us safely back to Beyrout again ; so there is no 
gainsaying his argument, and we three, — that is you, 
Reader, myself, and Abou Shein, — follow up our home- 
ward path, glad to think of home and rest after so 
many days' rambling, and full of all we have seen or 
heard during our short but agreeable campaign. 

For the first hour or two after leaving the Damoor 
the road is capital, and admits of reverie or soliloquy ; 
but after this comes what not even in our mountain 
rambles has been surpassed or even equalled. To call 



APPROACH TO BEYROUT. 



241 



it a road any longer would be to heap insult upon the 
very word itself, neither can it lay claim to be classed 
as a beacon pathway. We encounter bits of rock and 
stone, loose gravel and earth, narrow ledges and tor- 
tuous windings with no certain footing for the horses, 
or indications of how we got into some places, or how 
we are to get out of them again; but the natural 
instinct of the horses guides them over and through 
apparently insurmountable difficulties. 

Now we are riding by the sea shore, delighted with the 
softness of the sandy beach, and cooled by the spray of 
the murmuring waves ; then we are striking across a pro- 
montory whose whole surface is one mass of fragments of 
loose stones and rocks, with brushwood and briars innu- 
merable; at last, when we are plodding through a weary 
wilderness of sand, the last rays of the setting sun are 
reflected brilliantly upon the taller minarets and house- 
tops of the still distant Beyrout. This sight, however, 
cheers us in our solitude; the horses stride on with 
revived animation; the shades of night are just hover- 
ing over the horizon as we come in sight of the 
frequented haunts in the environs of the city, and 
enter the " Hourg," a grove of pines of immense 
and stately growth, with noisy rookeries established in 
their higher branches. 

Here we encounter many familiar faces of persons 
riding to and fro for amusement in this frequented part ; 
answering the many recognitions with equally friendly 
inquiries, we ride on apace, for the hour grows late, 

R 



242 



PARTING WITH THE DRUSE. 



and, of a truth, we are weary and exhausted. One by 
one, in the surrounding gloom, we recognise familiar 
haunts ; the city gates are past, the thronging multitudes 
in the street stand aside to gaze as the travellers pass ; 
before us is the gateway of the khan, where our Druse 
lodges, and here only he stops, for he thinks that now 
his promise has been well fulfilled. So we bid our 
trusty friend adieu, not without bestowing upon him a 
better proof of friendship and thankfulness than mere 
words or etiquette can lavish, and as we get to the old 
house where hospitality hangs up her lamps, dismount- 
ing from our weary nags, we walk upstairs, and so 
clamber again up to the lofty terrace. 

The hour is again night; the stars' are twinkling 
brightly in the firmament ; the calm sea gently laves the 
sides of our home ; and the last cry of the mueclden call 
to prayer echoes over the sombre and silent city. It is 
time to say farewell. The Druse, in all integrity, has 
fulfilled his promise ; by his guidance w r e have visited 
the mountain haunts of the Druses, partaken of their 
hospitality, joined in their festivity, witnessed their 
daily habits, and listened to their tales descriptive of 
the cities of their birth, rude though these cities be in 
the estimation of others. Then, again, we have found 
that even romance is to be met with on the Lebanon; 
and in the plains of that ancient city, Sidon, we 
have joined in the most familiar sports of the East. 

It remains for us to investigate, as far as we are 
permitted, the origin and religion of that strange people 



PARTING WITH THE DRUSE. 



243 



who through ages have been permitted to dwell with 
unrestrained liberty amongst all other creeds and 
sects, just as the Hivites dwelt amongst the Israelites 
on Lebanon, pursuing their own secret creed, adhering 
to their primitive costumes and customs, and remaining, 
even to the present day, " a beacon upon the top of a 
mountain, and as an ensign on an hill." 



R 2 



244 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



ANTIQUITY OF THE DRUSES — THE DRUSE PEOPLE — BATTLE NEAR 
SIDON — FAMILY FEUDS — HAFEEZ MARCHES UPON RANI AS AND 
SHAKEFF — DEFEAT OF THE TURKS — MAHOMET PASHA A CUNNING 
POLITICIAN — YALOUR OF THE DRUSES — THE INYADERS DISPERSED 
THE SULTAN MUSTAPHA — DISCOMFITURE OF THE TURKS — THE 
GRAND DUKE OF TUSCANY AND THE DRUSE EMIR. 



I come no more to make you laugh; things now, 
That bear a weighty and a serious brow, 
Sad, high, and working, full of state and woe, 
Such noble scenes as draw the eye to flow, 
We now present. 

Shakespeare. 



It is a well-ascertained fact that the Druses inha- 
bited Mount Lebanon before the time of the invasion 
of Syria by the Crusades; and that they were pro- 
minent as a powerful people even pending the brief 
interval between the Saracen Frank and Egyptian sway ; 
and were never entirely subdued by any power, till about 
the year 1517, at which period the last member of a 
valiant Druse family, who had reigned in these parts 
with uninterrupted sway through a period of nearly 
seven hundred years, was reduced to comparative 
insignificance. This fact alone at once refutes the 



ANTIQUITY OF THE DRUSES. 



245 



false notion entertained by some of the Druse Akals 
themselves, that they can trace their origin to some of 
the European princes who had accompanied the 
Crusades. 

So far back as the period above alluded to, the 
Druses were in possession of some incidents connected 
with their ancient sway upon these mountains; and 
perhaps their earliest record of ill success dates from 
an act of the basest treachery perpetrated by a Turkish 
officer, who had been sent upon a particular service 
into these mountains to investigate some act of dis- 
honesty which had been committed within the limits 
of the Druse territory, when several of their chiefs, 
surprised and inveigled by the treacherous Mahometan, 
were surrounded and exterminated upon the spot. 
With such records before us, we may be enabled to 
obtain some clue which may assist us in tracing a 
feeble and imperfect outline of their history, dependent 
solely for information upon those sources which 
originate from them, and are founded upon the hear-say 
and tradition of their Akals, handed down from father 
to son through successive generations. 

We have endeavoured, through the earlier chapters 
of this work, in an easy and familiar style, to make the 
reader acquainted with all the natural splendour of 
scenery which characterises the country inhabited by 
these people; at the same time that we sought to 
develope all their peculiarities in costume and customs, 
by mixing freely in their society and entering into 



246 



THE DRUSE PEOPLE. 



their familiar haunts on terms of the greatest intimacy. 
It may, therefore he excusable if from the nature of 
the subject, (for what history does not possess a same- 
ness and dulness, excepting at casual intervals?) this 
portion of the work be found heavier and less enter- 
taining, though, it is trusted, not one whit the less 
instructive than the portion that has preceded it. 
. Amongst a people naturally addicted to fable and 
much attached to the marvellous, it may be necessarily 
expected that the most trifling incidents of their early 
history have lost considerably in their intrinsic and 
simple merit ; whilst, expanding by oral tradition, the 
slightest events, or the most trifling victories, worked 
upon by the fevered imagination of a people exceedingly 
patriotic, have been metamorphosed into eras and 
records of chivalry or valour. Beyond a doubt, these 
people, ever since these mountains have been their 
chosen haunts, — ever since breathing this mountain air 
and being inspired with the healthful love of freedom, 
have been possessed of that remarkable and undaunted 
courage which is such a singular feature in their 
character even at the present day. There is, conse- 
quently, every supposition that during their lengthened 
existence as a people, they have had ample opportunity 
to display their courage and to combat for their 
birthright of freedom. Thrown into contact with the 
successive governors of the land, they have rarely been 
permitted to remain long in the uninterrupted posses- 
sion of their fertile lands without strenuous efforts 



BATTLE NEAR SI DON. 



247 



having been made to despoil them; though they have 
never, even to the present moment, been completely 
subdued. 

Not long after the act of treachery already recorded, 
a wary sheik, acting upon the spur of the moment, and 
adding fuel to the fierce flame for vengeance and satis- 
faction that burnt in the breasts of these warlike 
people, inspired them with hopes of victory and inde- 
pendence; and, working upon those clannish feelings, 
which are so prominent a trait in the Druse character, 
urged them on to rebellion. The whole mountain 
was speedily convulsed by the most terrific bloodshed 
and rapine till about the commencement of the seven- 
teenth century, when a successful battle, fought near 
Sidon, terminated for the time being favorably for the 
Druses, and established their reputation and dominion 
for awhile ; whilst the mountains of the Kesrouan and 
the provinces of Beyrout and Tiberius submitted to the 
jurisdiction of the sheik, who established his head- 
quarters at Safat. 

These acts of aggression were regarded not without 
jealousy by the Ottoman Sultan, but so long as he con- 
fined his warlike propensities to the immediate district 
of the Lebanon, it was deemed wisest not to interfere 
with the lion in its own den. Their inaccessible strong- 
holds, their dauntless courage, their well-known hardi- 
hood and temerity, rendered the Druses a terrible 
opponent in any field of battle ; but they became 
invincible when bearded in their own retreats, when 



248 



FAMILY FEUDS. 



each man fought with the instinct that freedom, 
life, happiness, and home, depended upon his valour 
and intrepidity. But urged on by a spirit of ambition, 
the Emir was unwise enough to enter into open 
rebellion, by throwing off the allegiance to the Sultan, 
and by declaring in favour of a rebel pasha, then 
in supreme power at Aleppo, in conjunction with 
whom he attacked and ransacked Damascus, levying 
on the citizens a very heavy ransom for their liberty. 
This act brought upon him the immediate indignation 
of the Ottoman government, and fifty chosen regiments, 
each a thousand men strong, were despatched under 
experienced Ottoman commanders, to endeavour to 
settle matters upon the Lebanon. 

The chances are that had the Emir been frankly 
dealt with, or could he have counted upon the support 
and friendship of all the minor chiefs, then this 
powerful invading army, with all its boasted strength 
and talent, could have accomplished but little. As 
matters turned out, however, petty feelings of spite 
and family feuds were permitted to counterbalance 
the more important demands of mutual assistance 
and reciprocal strength, though some few of the chiefs 
attended to the summons of the Emir, and met him 
with all disposable forces at the appointed rendezvous 
on the banks of the Damoor. It was found that their 
combined efforts would have been too feeble to resist 
the overwhelming attacks of the Turks, especially 
when menaced by intrigue and treachery at home ; 



HAFEEZ MARCHES UPON BAN IAS AND SHAKEFF. 249 

and it was consequently resolved to offer little or no 
opposition to the progress of the Turkish troops; 
whilst the Emir himself, disgusted and disheartened 
by his position, determined upon securing his personal 
safety by relinquishing his country and retiring to 
Europe. 

The brother of the Emir, however, more stable of 
purpose, determined to resist to the uttermost, either 
by force of arms or diplomacy, the encroachments of 
the invaders, Hafeez, a renowned Turkish general, 
marched upon Banias and Shakeff, both of which 
fortresses he compelled to surrender ; and the mother 
of the Druse prince, accompanied by several Akals, 
proceeded to the tent of Hafeez, offering as a ransom 
for these strongholds a considerable sum of money. 
This offer was accepted, and as the winter was approach- 
ing, the Turkish general deemed it prudent to retire with 
his forces from the mountains, because those regions 
were inhospitable and inaccessible at all seasons to the 
invader, and because encamping in the plains afforded 
better shelter and more prolific pasturage for the cattle, 
as also comforts for the men of the expedition. 

So soon, however, as a congenial season admitted 
of warlike operations, the Turks were again upon the 
march ; and in 1615, Ob Elias and the plains of 
the Barouk were dotted with the tents of the invading 
army. Meanwhile the Druses had by no means remained 
idle or indifferent to their precarious position. One 
of the chiefs had succeeded in collecting a considerable 



250 



DEFEAT OF THE TURKS. 



force from the Shoof, and by a display of well-timed 
eloquence he had so worked upon the dispositions and 
temperament of these people, that he convinced them 
that death and annihilation were preferable to submit- 
ting to the accursed rule of the Moslem. 

Strong words were these for a chief to use towards 
his people, while both parties, under the mask of 
hypocrisy, too often imitated the doctrines and creed 
of those whose authority they now foreswore. Yet the 
urgency of their position admitted of no alternative ; 
there was no medial course to pursue, and Druse swore 
to Druse that come what might they would rather 
perish to a man than submit to the infamous oppres- 
sion of the Turks. Wound up to desperation by the 
peculiar and irremediable alternatives placed before 
them, these forces attacked the enemy with desperate 
valour, and the Maronites combining with the Druses 
succeeded in compelling the Turks to retire upon the 
plains of the Bekaa. 

After this temporary success, the Druse chieftain 
bethought him of re-constructing the fortifications 
about Banias ; and some dissatisfaction reigning amongst 
the mountain tribes, the Turkish commander was 
enabled by this false position of affairs to advance 
unobstructed upon Deir-il-Kamar, which country he 
ravaged and burnt to the ground. But the Druses, 
enraged beyond measure at the treachery of those 
Yemini tribes, who had so basely acted as pilots in 
directing the course of the invading army over a 



MAHOMET PASHA A CUNNING POLITICIAN. 251 

country heretofore but little accessible, saving only 
to those peculiar people who inhabited its heights, 
assembled in great forces at a secluded valley in the 
vicinity of Sidon, known to this day as Merg Bizra. 
Here twenty thousand men, recruited by the Pasha of 
Tripoli, marched upon the Druses, and here this immense 
force was completely routed and put to flight with great 
slaughter, though attacked by only twelve hundred 
invincible Druses, — a signal victory, which gained for 
this mountain people unfading laurels, at the same time 
that it entailed lasting disgrace and dishonour on the 
unfortunate Turkish commander, who was immediately 
replaced by Mahomet Pasha, a cunning politician, who, 
working upon the only sure means of success, enfeebled 
these mountain people by instigating tribe against 
tribe, and by venemously distributing seeds of discord 
and jealousy, which successfully co-operated in extir- 
pating the strength which had only existed so long as 
mutual assistance and clanship remained a law upon 
the mountains. 

Arab tribes sharing with the Christians and the 
Druses these fertile mountain countries, succeeded with 
their usual duplicity in materially injuring the safety, 
peace, and interests of the mountain people; and the 
Yemini and Keis, two eminent tribes of Arabia, who 
held powerful sway in the days of the impostor 
Mahomet, migrating to these parts from the force of 
circumstances, found it more suitable to their proverbial 
love of indolence and freedom to establish themselves 



252 



VALOUR OF THE DRUSES. 



in these most fertile parts, where but little labour or 
expense brought tenfold remuneration to the cultivator, 
and which have ever been noted as the most prolific 
district in Palestine. Here, carrying with them that 
peculiar craftiness which so distinguishes their race, and 
which has been the trait of these people ever since the 
days when the descendants of Ishmael first inhabited 
these plains, having encroached upon the hospitality of 
these the original lords of the land, they abused all the 
kindred ties of clanship or hospitality by entering at 
once into the intrigue, the pay, and service of the 
invading chief, and by acting as spies and despicable 
villains, to those very people who had defended them 
in the hour of need. 

In 1617, towards the close of the reign of the 
Sultan Ahmed, one terrible day witnessed upon the 
mountains four distinct sanguinary engagements, one 
at the Damoor, the other at Abei, the third at Ain 
Dara, and the fourth at Adgmeet. To describe the 
desolation, the fierceness, the wrath of these deadly 
strifes, would be to depict the face of humanity in 
its most hideous aspect ; it would be to convert 
earth into hell, and men, made after God's own 
image, into fiends incarnate. It is fearful enough, 
upon any occasion of warfare, to witness the mastery 
of the evil spirit over all the more eloquent and the 
more beautiful traits of human nature ; but then, the 
greater masses engaged upon this conflict, are simply 
excited as hirelings to slay and to slaughter every 



THE INVADERS DISPERSED. 



253 



opponent; they do not regard each unhappy victim of 
the unerring bullet, or the well-sharpened sabre, in the 
light of a private or individual foe ; they hack and hue 
away; they aim with better precision, simply because 
they are aware that a failure in the strength of their 
arm, or the aim of their eyes, entails peril and dis- 
comfort to themselves. 

It was otherwise with the few and hunted-down 
Druses that were arranged in these different bat- 
tles; every man knew personally and individually 
that death or victory was his choice. Born to breathe 
the air of unshackled liberty, they had been equally 
bred to disdain and abhor the proverbially intolerant 
yoke of the Mahometan rule; their best strongholds, 
their chiefest fortifications, had been wrenched from 
their sway by the treachery of those who had been 
heretofore never their friends, but considered in the 
light of refugees and exiles ; and so, with this sentiment 
bracing up the nerves of each warrior, the whole band 
or bands fought as though actuated by one single 
impulse, and the result was beyond even the expecta- 
tion of the most sanguine. The Turks laboured under 
the disadvantage of want of sufficient knowledge of the 
localities that were occupied by the contending forces; 
the Druses had every advantage in this respect, though 
they lacked numerical force. Like fierce bloodhounds 
set upon the scent, they dispersed the invaders, and the 
chief sheik of the liberal party, having vanquished the 
foe, ruled with despotic sway. 



254 



THE SULTAN MUSTAPHA. 



It will be remembered by those conversant with 
Mahometan history, that, at this peculiar epoch, the 
armies of the Ottoman Sultan had degenerated into 
the most deplorable effeminacy and decrepitude. Mus- 
tapha, the youthful Sultan, had attained to the dignity 
of the Muznud; but inefficient in talent, wanting in 
intellect, lacking that singular firmness of purpose 
which was so requisite for any man to enable him 
to govern an empire at all periods turbulent and 
rebellious, at this time verging upon rebellion, he 
had barely assumed the reins of government when the 
insolence and uncurbed hostility of the Janissary chiefs 
caused the hapless youth to be deposed, deprived of his 
short-lived dignity, and to exchange the luxuriance 
and pleasure of supreme command for the horrors and 
discipline of a Turkish prison of state. 

It was no wonder, therefore, at a period when a 
people could so speedily make or unmake a sovereign, 
that the moral discipline of the armies of such a 
country should be lax in the extreme. The soldiers of 
the Ottoman empire had no spirit of patriotism to stir 
them up to the necessary activity and indispensable 
valour of any people attempting to invade a country 
well fortified by nature, well guarded by the bravest 
men that ever Providence set upon the mountains to 
be as a beacon to the infidelity of others. The result, 
as has been already stated, was advantageous in the 
extreme to the Druses: the whole territory of the 
Lebanon, extending from Tripoli to Sidon, was divided 



DISCOMFITURE OF THE TURKS. 



255 



amongst the head chiefs of these tribes, and a momen- 
tary peace, with a feeling of permanent security, 
reigned upon the heights of the Lebanon. 

Some efforts were made, but very feeble ones, both 
as regards plan and execution, to recover the advan- 
tages lost by the Turkish forces. One man, a discon- 
tented chief of the Arab tribes already alluded to, pro- 
ceeded to Damascus and got appointed governor of two 
of the principal cities within the range of the jurisdiction 
of the now independent chief of the Druses. This man 
had sufficient temerity with a small body-guard to sally 
forth from Damascus, with the object of assuming the 
reins of his new government. But the Druses had spies 
on the alert to acquaint them with every fresh move- 
ment of the enemy, and the result was that the head 
of this incautious man was carried to the Druse 
chieftain as a trophy of the ill-success of that feeble 
mission. 

Whilst these events were transpiring on the Lebanon, 
the Emir, who had deserted his post and resorted to 
the shores of Europe to seek patronage and protection 
from a people then acknowledged to be powerful, 
was working out schemes of ambition. To better 
accomplish these, he had sought refuge and protection 
amongst a people then supposed to be the greatest 
of the then developing empires of Europe. The Grand 
Duke of Tuscany was the fortunate man who afforded 
a domicile and the protection required by this 
Druse chieftain. It would seem from the description 



256 



THE GRAND DUKE OF TUSCANY 



given by some authors that he was overwhelmed by 
courtesy on the part of several of the noblest families 
in Italy ; but, possessed of natural shrewdness, this man 
at once discovered that he was more the object of 
selfish ambition than one who should have demanded 
unqualified hospitality from the highest to the lowest. 

From the Grand Duke to the peasant, every man 
made it his business to endeavour to unravel the 
mystery of the flight of so great a man from a land 
intuitively connected with the supposed knowledge of 
all Christians who had read of the Lebanon. He was 
feted, he was honoured, he was caressed ; and his invita- 
tions to partake of the hospitality of numerous distin- 
guished families were so many, that the man, apparently 
at that period ignorant of the doctrines professed by the 
present Akals, found himself estranged from the neces- 
sary ceremonials and practises of the Mohametan faith; 
and having his daily orisons interrupted, he refused many 
of the most privileged civilites, and to the astonishment 
of the highest men of that day, spurned their hospitality 
with indignity. 

The fact was, that he had acquired, barbarian as he 
was supposed to be, sufficient intuitiveness to discern 
at a single glance that these professed liberalities 
amounted to neither more nor less than an unrestrained 
wish on the part of those aspiring Europeans to glean 
from this man of Lebanon sufficient insight into the 
internal government and geographical position of his 
native country, to enable them with the greater facility 



AND THE DRUSE EMIR. 257 

to possess themselves of a territory long coveted by 
Christians, sacred in the archives of Holy Writ, and 
one which under circumstances appears to be impreg- 
nable. 



s 



258 



CHAPTER XIX. 

RETURN OF THE EMIR TO LEBANON — JEN GETS KHAN — A FLAG 
OF TRUCE — FAKEREDDEEN — INDIVIDUAL ATTAINMENTS — THE 
GREATNESS OF FAKEREDDEEN — THE BEDOUINS OF THE DESERT 
— THE LAND OF IDUMEA — TURKISH PASHAS IN 1626 — DRUSE 
INSUBORDINATION— CHIVALRY OF THE DRUSES — CHARACTER OF 
FAKEREDDEEN — DRUSE INDEPENDENCE. 

There govern'd in that year 
A stern, stout, churl, — an angry overseer. 

Crabbe. 

Tired of the flattering reception offered him by the 
Tuscan people, the fugitive Emir once again bethought 
himself of home; and so he returned to his mountain 
residence, welcomed back by the enthusiasm of all 
classes then claiming a kind of clanship with the 
Druses. At first things seemed to proceed as favourably 
as any chieftain might wish, and time rolled on unmarked 
by any peculiar feature ; until in 1622, a remarkably 
severe winter rendered the fastnesses of the Lebanon 
all but impracticable. At this very moment there was 
a host of enemies beleaguering the mountain tribes on 
•every accessible point, and the newly-returned chieftain, 



RETURN OF THE EMIR TO LEBAXOX. 



259 



animated by a peculiar courage, which at the best was 
timorous, ventured forth at a time when the elements 
seemed combined to annihilate nature. 

It was no easy task for men, hardened even as these 
Druses were hardened, to countenance such a fearful 
opposition as the elements presented. Snow, in unhar- 
rowed flakes, seemed an insuperable barrier even to the 
hardiest and most experienced of those mountaineers ; 
so much so that they had to resort to the not unusual 
subterfuge of spreading carpets, rugs, mats, and other 
material to facilitate the passage of the troops even 
from one mountain side to the other. 

Never, perhaps, in the records of the history of 
nations did such a frightful aspect present itself to deter 
the progress or success of warlike operations. The only 
similar record in the pages of Eastern warfare which at 
all resembles, and perhaps surpasses this undaunted 
undertaking, was the passage of the troops under 
Jenghis Khan, when that invincible warrior surmount- 
ing nature's severest barriers, led thousands of his 
troops to destruction, at the same time that the 
survivors reaped a well-earned harvest of rapine on the 
fertile plains inhabited by the Belochees and the little- 
known races of Affghanistan. It is a recorded fact of 
history that on this particular enterprise, traversing 
heretofore inaccessible and unknown heights, this 
invincible warrior, brave as a general, yet detestable as 
a man, led troops over scenes of desolation unparalleled 
in the world. Undaunted by obstacles which might 

s 2 



260 



JENGHIS KHAN. 



have shaken the faith and courage of a Csesar him- 
self, this great and wild warrior, entangled amongst 
fastnesses fearfully impregnable at the mildest season, 
and terrible beyond conception during the winter 
months, conducted hordes of men, as a queen bee might 
the inmates of a hornet's nest, high up into altitudes 
seldom penetrated by human beings, and down into 
latitudes the most luxuriant and the most fertile con- 
ceivable. 

It is fearful, even though through the simple medium 
of a book, to record the devastating effects of that 
terrible expedition. The cost of life was the most 
trivial estimation in the catalogue of that ruthless 
hero's achievements, as it would appear that at the 
same moment that he assumed to himself peculiar 
instruments for the safety of his own person, being 
slid over the most fearful precipices by means of strong 
cords which secured him to temporary slides, he looked 
on a reckless spectator of the thousands that were every 
moment being launched into eternity by the impassable 
nature of those dreadful hills over which they were 
guided towards a then dubious victory. 

Even so amongst those equally perilous recesses of 
the Lebanon, this desperate chief, pickaxe in hand, led 
on a few hardy followers towards an equally dubious 
conquest ; because it is not to be imagined that the 
usually temperate nature of climate which prevails over 
the lower lands of Syria, is any index to the obstacles 
annually to be encountered upon the loftier highlands 



A FLAG OF TRUCE. 



261 



of the Lebanon : many parts even at the present moment 
and during the mildest of winters, are considered by the 
Druses themselves as perilous in the extreme, and only 
to be undertaken when urgent necessity compels them 
to traverse these desolate and icebound regions. 

In the year above mentioned, however, no impedi- 
ment of nature could have offered sufficient obstacle to 
the enthusiastic determination of the demi-civilised 
chieftain of these vigorous Druse mountaineers. * He 
acted the part of a careful general in pioneering their 
routes by manual labour; his intellect was in no case 
permitted to lie dormant; he worked harder than the 
men that followed him ; he encouraged them by action 
as well as by word to offer the most inexorable resist- 
ance to the foes of their liberty and in fact of their 
existence as a people. 

The desperate resistance of the well-conducted 
opposition offered by the Druses, compelled the in- 
vading parties to enter into terms which would 
have been foreign to the notions and position of 
the Turkish general. At last, a homage to their 
obstinate bravery, a flag of truce indicated that the 
Turks had been wearied out, and matters were 
momentarily temporized by the intermarriage of one 
of the principal Ottoman commanders with the daugh- 
ter of a sheik of some considerable influence amongst 
the Druses. This fortuitous event might have esta- 
blished a permanent peace upon the mountains, but 
the time for such a happy circumstance had not as yet 



262 



FAKEREDDEEN. 



arrived : a singular and trifling incident gave rise to a 
fresh outbreak amongst the mountaineers themselves, 
and the invaders profiting by this dissension, bid 
fair to annihilate the pretensions of all creeds to 
independence. 

It is mentioned by the more learned Akals of the 
Lebanon, that the great chief of that period was a 
person insignificant in stature and exceedingly un- 
comely in personal appearance, yet withal possessed 
of the keenest and most sensitive disposition. Fake- 
reddeen, for so was this chieftain called, unfortunately 
chanced to overhear a conversation held between one 
of his immediate relatives, a powerful chief himself, 
and his own daughter, in which, casually alluding to 
his personal strength, the latter remarked that his 
own little finger had more nerve and possessed much 
more power than the chieftain himself. Enraged 
beyond measure, and implacable, this man, despite 
the entreaties of friends and family, rushed from the 
house, and entering amongst his clan, brandished the 
torch of civil discord ; so that two powerful people, 
who ought to have acted in concert against the 
invasions of a mutual enemy, became respectively 
and inadvertently tools in the hands of the Turks, 
to annihilate each other's position and to facilitate the 
grand object of the Turkish general, which was by 
internal dissension to exterminate the strength of 
resistance of a people unconquerable if united, but 
who, from their paucity of numbers, were easily 



FAKEREDDEE> T . 



263 



vanquished when separately attacked or bribed over 
by baneful influences to undermine their only source 
and hope of existence. 

Discomforted by the allusions made with reference 
to his stature, the renowned Fakereddeen is reputed 
to have composed a stanza remarkable for its pithy 
evidence of bearing testimony to the fact, that however 
insignificant the appearance of humanity, we are not 
thereby supposed to form any adequate judgment of 
the attainments or personalities of individuals. 

If we may be permitted to pause, without any 
inconvenience to the readers of this simple history, 
the remark is applicable even to the present generation 
of mankind. How often does it happen, that the 
smallest and apparently most insignificant specimens 
of humanity are possessed of a vital power far beyond 
our comprehension, and sometimes of an eloquence 
amounting to enthusiasm 1 It may not be — or in fact 
it must not — be considered as in any light derogatory 
to particular personages, if we specify a few proofs 
of this peculiar theme, universally acknowledged 
even by the little-tutored people of that age. Dr. 
Johnson was a bear in manners, yet a marvel in 
intellect. Napoleon himself, beyond refutation the 
greatest general that ever trod upon the earth, was 
unfavoured by nature, as far as regards personal 
appearance. And, to be more apt, [our own hero, the 
Emperor's greatest enemy and only victor — we allude 
to the late Duke of Wellington — was a person 



264 



INDIVIDUAL ATTAINMENTS. 



of no prepossessing — that is to say, of no distinguished 
mien. And if we come down to persons flourishing — 
or, alas ! be it written, who have too briefly flourished — 
that gifted man, Eliot Warburton, who could write 
and describe lands familiar to these very people whose 
various positions we are now endeavouring to discuss, 
was a modern and more elegant, a more refined 
specimen of the Dr. Johnson style, yet of such fragile 
texture, so small limbed, and so disproportioned in 
stature, that were men to reckon intellect by size or 
appearance, the renowned author of " The Crescent 
and the Cross" would have dwindled into insig- 
nificance. 

It is, however, a remarkable incident, perhaps very 
foreign to the nature of this book, yet still bearing a 
collateral signification in reference to the undaunted 
Druse commander, Fakereddeen, that the most remark- 
able warriors, statesmen, authors, and diplomatists, 
have been almost invariably men of insignificant 
stature; there is no occasion to travel further than 
through the pages of the history of our own country, 
or to the records of renowned heroes who have 
been brought in contact with our own victorious 
admirals and generals. Wellington and Napoleon, the 
renowned Tippoo Saib, and the equally famous 
Washington, of America, are well known to have been 
disproportionate to what is usually characterised as a 
fine-made man. Andrea Riadoria, Nelson, and the 
unfortunate Bandiera, were nautical specimens of 



THE GREATNESS OF FAKEREDDEEN. 265 

caskets of great value contained within a diminutive 
space; Pitt was a small man, and Pope notoriously 
insignificant ; yet all these individually have aided to 
shed a lustre upon the pages of the records of human 
prowess, if anything can be said to be fine or mag- 
nificent in connection with the fallen race of man. 

Yet, I presume, that like the various stewards, 
quoted by our Redeemer, every man, according to his 
gift, is expected to expand and to confer some benefit 
upon his neighbour ; and so in a small, yet for that 
part significant manner, did Fakereddeen shed a tem- 
porary lustre upon the historical records of the Druse 
chieftians, and to this day, a lasting monument to 
some of his acts for the amelioration of his people and 
the adornment of his country, may be seen massive 
portions of a marble gateway which once constituted a 
triumphal arch for this outwardly insignifiant man to 
pass under in his daily visits to the palace at Deir-il- 
Kamar. But he was really a Caesar and a Napoleon in 
his way; at no period did the Druses bask under 
better influence than during the sway of this renowned 
chief; for he appears to have overrun the greater part 
of Palestine, and even to have obtained a nominal 
sway of the districts about Jerusalem. 

In 1626, this man was invested with the right of 
government, by the Sultan Amureth, over that 
imaginary district defined as the Mountains, extending 
from Jerusalem to Tripoli. lS T ow we are all aware that 
no such consecutive range exists; but whether, under 



266 



THE BEDOUINS OF THE DESERT. 



this nomenclature it was presumed that he governed 
both plain and hilly country, it is difficult to define; 
although it is evident that the wording of the Emir's 
appointment conferred upon him the fabulous chieftain- 
ship of those wild and insubordinate tribes to be met 
with between the borders of the desert near Damascus, 
and extending round the shores of that desolate and 
accursed lake, Asphalaton, the presumed site of the 
destroyed cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Now, it is 
a well-known circumstance, that even from the earliest 
rule of the Saracen cailiff, Omar, through the vicis- 
situdes that have waited upon Jerusalem, no people 
and no government have been able effectually to sub- 
jugate these independent, wild, and homeless Bedouins; 
a people ever the terror of the more civilised classes 
inhabiting those parts upon the confines of the 
deserts; the stumbling-block to the enterprise of all 
European travellers; and who, even up to the latest 
date, have proved a terrible scourge and detriment to 
the investigation of scientific expeditions sent out by 
the governments of England and the United States. 
Yet, over all these people Fakereddeen was supposed to 
hold viceregal sway, and the very nomination, like the 
old fable of the dog in the manger, brought about him 
the jealousies and persecutions of the Ottoman pashas, 
then holding supreme command at those two ancient 
and much famed cities, Jerusalem and Damascus. They 
could do nothing themselves, and, moreover, they were 
compelled to submit without hope or chance of 



THE LAND OF IDUMEA. 



267 



retaliation to the predatory incursions of these wild 
and hostile people. 

It happened then —it happens now, and ever will 
be the case until the term of prophecy be completed — 
that these ruffianly inhabitants of the accursed land 
of Idumea will be a bane and a bugbear to all those 
flourishing cities which define the borders of this 
dreary waste ; for, in the words of the most eloquent 
prophet, we have recorded a fearful and a terrible 
curse upon these parts, commencing, " Thou art cast 
out, out of thy grave as an abominable branch, and as 
the remnant of those that are slain, for I will rise up 
against them, saith the Lord of Hosts; I will also 
make it a possession for the bittern and pools of 
water; and I will sweep it with the besom of 
destruction." " The cormorant and the bittern shall 
possess it, the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it ; 
thorns shall come up in their palaces, nettles and 
brambles in the fortresses thereof; and it shall be an 
habitation and a court for owls ; the screechowl shall 
rest there, and the great owl make her nest, and lay 
and hatch under her shadow ; there also shall the 
vultures be gathered." 

Such was the desolate and the terrible country over 
which the Druse chieftain was supposed to exercise 
influence and command — such was the country of which 
the Ottoman governors envied him the supremacy; 
and yet neither the one nor the other could ever have 
hoped, under whatever auspices, to have de facto exer- 



268 



TURKISH PASHAS EN 1626. 



cised authority in these localities. It was more than 
human authority, backed by human hordes, could 
hope to do ; for it was a country sealed by the terrible 
curse of prophecy against the incursions or the 
supremacy of any power reigning upon earth, and so 
it remains to this present day. Nevertheless this 
apparently insignificant chief enjoyed all the dignity 
attached to his position, and the exercise of this 
authority brought him into immediate and unfriendly 
contact with the Pasha of Damascus. 

In those days pashas were invested with far greater 
powers than they possess at the present moment, 
though at the same time they were exposed to the 
most unequivocal dangers ; and not only their authority 
but their very lives depended upon the favour or 
disapprobation of the Sultan. At the same time, 
in respect to supreme sway, they were infinitely 
superior to what the minor dignitaries of the present 
day can pretend. They were absolutely despots in 
those provinces over which their powerful jurisdiction 
extended ; and at the same time that it was a familiar 
incident in the calends of Turkish history to hear 
of these men being suddenly strangled, or as uncere- 
moniously disposed of, so long as they had life and 
authority they exercised undivided power with them. 
The life and property of individual subjects were as a 
matter of profit and loss : wherever there was money 
or territory to be gained, the subject, without using 
ample bribery, was never secure of either. There 



DRUSE INSUBORDINATION. 



269 



were no influential diplomatists, representatives of the 
courts of powerful nations, to act as a check-string to 
the vagaries of these too often flagrant villains ; and 
it was consequently not unnatural that the men 
invested with supreme authority at Damascus and 
Jerusalem should have demurred at the nomination 
of the chief of a people looked upon by themselves as 
subordinate and insignificant. 

Notwithstanding the strongly-worded firman which 
invested Fakereddeen with the supreme command over 
these wild and incorrigible people, never considering 
the absurdity of such a position, yet fully aware 
himself, with all power to back him, that he was totally 
unable to earn one para of revenue from tribes that 
always set at defiance the taxation of the Ottoman 
government, still the Pasha of Damascus was loth to 
see an infringement upon what he considered his 
titulary rights of government ; and though the very 
act itself breathed rebellion to his master, he ventured 
to issue a proclamation derogatory to the assumed 
privileges of the Druse chieftain, and threatened to 
annihilate every effort made by him to carry out his 
designs or inclinations as nominal governor of a people 
who never would submit and never have submitted to 
any government. 

Hearing that it was the Druse's intention to promul- 
gate certain edicts amongst these people, the pasha, 
jealous of his authority and too chary of his rights, 
summoned his people to congregate under the standard 



270 



CHIVALRY OF THE DRUSES. 



of the Ottoman Sultan and against the sovereign decla- 
ration of this very potentate, to fight against the 
authority of one who only assumed such authority 
under the direct patronage of the person whom they 
themselves pretended to acknowledge as their supreme 
master and governor. 

This act of insubordination, startling as it may appear, 
was but a too frequent feature in those convulsed 
periods throughout the Ottoman dominions. It would 
be foreign to the purport of this work to cite instances, 
but every pasha attempted at that period to assume 
himself a distinct and independent sovereignty. How- 
ever, in the present instance, had it not been for the 
chivalrous and excellent disposition of the Druse people, 
their willingness to countenance the supremacy, but 
not to submit to the imposition of the Turkish 
government, — owing to this spirit alone the Damascene 
pasha was saved the disgrace and discomfort of 
being utterly routed by the forces under Fakered- 
deen. 

The Druses had upon this occasion, as indeed upon 
almost every other opportunity, displayed an invincible 
valour, and now too virtuously excellent, they deemed 
it a shame to prove themselves vanquishers of a people 
virtually their lords; so that when in reality they might 
have been supposed from their position in the battle to 
lead their opponents, diminished and subdued, as 
captives into captivity, they volunteered to fall into 
their cohorts, and in this invidious position pretend 



CHARACTER OF FAKEREDDEEN. 



271 



to enter the city rather as submissive captives in 
the suite of their vanquished opponents. Here was 
witnessed one of those remarkable transactions so signi- 
ficant of the general hypocrisy that prevails over all 
formalities of government. 

Under the Ottoman sway, the real conquerors pre- 
tending to admit of the dubious infallibility of the foe, 
once seeing themselves masters of their positions and 
fortifications, immediately assumed that fictitious posi- 
tion which rendered them for the time being the apparent 
slaves of those whom they had vanquished ; and thus 
entering as a dastardly suit, they followed the people 
that had been too prone to resign all authority in the 
form of subjugated vassals, because they possessed 
intuitive notions that in this inadvertent war they, 
equally with their opponents, acted in opposition to the 
wishes and ultimatum of the great man who was 
admitted upon all sides to govern them as padisha. 

Fakereddeen was consequently as great a knave as 
he was a conqueror, submitting, though involuntarily, 
to the supreme sway of the pasha for the time being. 
He detested and abhorred the principle sustained by 
that functionary, yet he was too well aware that the 
peace and tranquility of the mountain people were not 
to be trifled with. He had, therefore, submitted to 
have his personal dignity outraged, because he hoped 
that by so doing he might pacify the invasions and the 
incursive spirit of a people who, with all disadvantages, 
were capable by numerical force of thwarting their 



272 



DRUSE INDEPENDENCE. 



spirit of independence, and paralysing that feeling 
which solely contributed to prop up the independence 
of the mountain hordes. 



273 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE EED AND THE WHITE TURBAN — SANDYS ON THE DRUSES — 
FAEEREDDEEN'S MOTHER — FAKEREDDEEN IS BOWSTKUNG — THE 
SHEHAAB FAMILY — MOHAMET PASHA — BANEFUL POLICY OF THE 
PASHAS— A YOUTHFUL CHIEFTAIN— THE MERCHANT OF ANTIOCH 
— HARES' TAILS — REYOLT OF THE NATIVES OF THE BEKAA — 
THE RENOWNED D AFTER — CTVTL WAR — DAHER VICTORIOUS. 

A story, in which native humour reigns, 
Is often useful, always entertains : 
A graver fact, enlisted on your side, 
May furnish illustration, well applied. 

COWPER. 

Speaking of the inhabitants of the territories about 
Lebanon, and confusing them one with the other as 
the ignorance of that age was apt to do, that famous 
traveller, Sandys, whose writings are so exquisitely 
quaint, yet withal in many points rigidly correct, 
says that "they are of sundry nations and religions, 
governed by a succession of princes, whom they call 
Emirs ; descended, as they say, from the Druses, the 
remainder of those Frenche-men which were brought 
into these parts by Godfrey of Bollign, who, driven 
into the mountains above, and defending themselves 
by the advantages of the place, could never be utterly 

T 



274 THE RED AND THE WHITE TURBAN. 

destroyed by the Saracens. At length they afforded 
them a peace and liberty of religion conditionally that 
they wore the white turban, and paid such duties as 
the natural subject." 

Strange and uncouth as may seem the language of 
this veteran traveller, who, encountering almost 
insurmountable obstacles, passed over these very 
countries at the period that we have been already 
dilating upon, there is no doubt that his language 
and his description hold good in many respects, even 
to the present day. In the first instance, the peculiar 
uniform described, is even at this hour the distin- 
guishing mark of the Druses ; though as far as concerns 
the theory above quoted, namely, that they entered 
into Palestine coevally with the Crusaders, this point 
we have already found cause to refute with something 
more than the shadow of conjecture. It is remark- 
able, however, that a gentleman travelling here nearly 
two hundred years ago, and at the most inauspicious 
moment, should make allusion to the only singularity 
which distinguishes the Druse Akals at the present day. 

Our friend Abou Shein, who has been the confidant 
of many of our previous exploits, it will be remem- 
bered, decorated his head with the red turban, used as 
a distinguishing mark for the lower classes and less 
intellectual portion of the Druse inhabitants : the 
white turban is exclusively appropriated to the Akals 
or men of learning But in investigating what has 
hitherto remained and may still continue almost a 



SANDYS ON THE DRUSES. 



275 



veiled mystery, it is always amusing, if it is not 
instructive, to quote from the remarks of which such 
men as Sandys were in that day the originators. We 
therefore return, with no evasion of the matter imme- 
diately in discussion, to the facts quoted by this 
illustrious and well-authenticated traveller. 

He says, — and this is a note-worthy saying, besides 
being one which bears particularly upon the subject 
of the creed appended to this work, having been the 
self-same theory then acceded to and acknowledged by 
these people, — that " in tract of time they fell from the 
knowledge of Christ, nor thoroughly embracing any 
other religion, are indeed of none. As for this Emir 
[Fakereddeen], he was never known to pray, nor yet 
ever seen in a mosque. Small of stature, but great in 
courage and achievements ; about the age of forty ; 
subtle as a fox, and not a little inclining to the tyrant, 
he never commenceth battel nor executeth any notable 
design without the consent of his mother." 

Now it will be recollected that this mother was the 
very individual person who, at the head of a certain 
number of Akals, endeavoured to pacify the wrath and 
terrible indignation of that renowned Turkish general, 
Hafeez, when Deir-il-Kamar and Bet-il-Deen, forsaken 
by the flying chieftain, had been compelled temporarily 
to yield obedience to his sway. We may recollect 
that the chieftain, dispirited, fled to the protection 
of European powers ; and finding that protection 
deceitful and egotistical, thought it better to throw 

T 2 



276 



fakereddeen's mother. 



himself upon the mercies of his own people than 
sacrifice name, country, and all that is dear to an 
independent soul, to the aspiring ambition of the then 
Grand Duke and the Pope of Eome. 

Figuratively speaking, we have already in playful 
mood alluded to what a Druse damsel might accom- 
plish amongst the unskilled beaus and citizens of 
the West End ; but for the perfect realization of 
such a theme, we have only to return to the descriptive 
pages of our old and much- esteemed author even at 
that period. Sandys says, when speaking of the mother 
of this peculiarly- gifted Druse chieftain, that he could 
find nothing better or more descriptive of her acts and 
appearance than the pages of an old and familiar work, 
the study of which has cost many a brave man worse 
than the pangs of martyrdom. 

Ilia magas artses JEmaque carmina novit, 
Inque caput liquidas arte ricurvat aquas 
Scit bene quid gram en, quid tortoo confita rombo 
Licia, quid valeat virtus amantis equse. 

Skill'd in black arts, she makes streams backward run, 
The vertues knows of weeds; of laces spun 
On wheels; and poyson of lust-stung mare; 
Fair days make cloudy, and the cloudy fair. 

Oyid. 

So great was his fame, that the Emir Fakereddeen is 
even to the present day venerated by all classes 
inhabiting the mountain ranges of the Lebanon. 
Apparently, his fame exceeded even the notoriety, as 
far as local circumstances admitted, of the respect and 



FAKEREDDEEjY is bowstrung. 



277 



the fame earned by European commanders. Surrounded 
by every imaginable difficulty, and by very many local 
impediments, this marvellously courageous mountaineer 
succeeded in maintaining indisputable right to the 
position of an independent and powerful prince. 

So terrible, however, are the operations of intrigue 
and jealousy, that, by the merest accident, his power was 
paralysed ; and within the course of a few hours from 
the moment he had been enjoying the privileges of his 
peculiarly fortunate position, he was seized and, 
together with his children, sentenced to undergo one 
of the most fearful penalties which the inventions of 
cruelty and inhumanity could resort to. Fakereddeen, 
together with all the male members of his family, was 
suddenly taken and bowstrung; and thus ended the 
career of perhaps one of the most remarkable and 
intuitively courageous persons of a people inhabiting 
the whole Lebanon. 

With the successors of this unfortunate chieftain, 
commenced that barbarous system of internal govern- 
ment which had for its object the paralysis of the 
spirit of independence, as well as the annihilation of 
any pretended rights professed by the Druse governors ; 
and for a period of nearly twenty-five years — that is, 
to the year 1651 — the Emirs submitted to the most 
vicious and blameable source of government. 

In that early period the Turks patronised everything 
that could be conducive to the introduction of a spirit 
of silent subordination ; they, therefore, after the death 



278 



THE SHEHAAB FAMILY. 



of the renowned Fakereddeen, hailed the appearance of 
men whose greatest fault was the instability of their 
method of government, and who almost permitted 
their people to decline into a state of abject serfdom. 
This, however, was speedily remedied when once the 
spirit of desperate hardisome had been aroused in the 
breast of this free people; and shortly after the 
oppressive system of the goverment had developed 
itself, the spirit and determination of the people 
revealed themselves with a powerful reflection of the 
sweet inspirations of self-taught and inborn indepen- 
dence. 

It was about the era above mentioned that the 
members of the Shehaab family first began to assume 
the reins of government amongst the Druses; and till 
the year 1841, with varying success, this family held 
sway in the Druse capital. One of the earliest of this 
race of chieftains, falling into the habits and influences 
which belong to Ottoman pashas, attempted by deceit 
and perfidious policy to weaken the independence of his 
own followers. But unfortunately for himself, failing 
in these deceitful efforts, he brought upon himself a 
double curse, the detestation of his own people, and 
the mistrust of those he had attempted to serve at the 
cost of everything that was honourable and virtuous, 
and was ultimately committed to prison, and eventually, 
it is presumed, met with a violent end. Yet before 
the day of his death a fatal system of civil warfare 
had broken out and blazed in the Lebanon: indeed 



MOHAMET PASHA. 



279 



from that early day it may with truth be stated that 
under no sucessive pasha have these wretched moun- 
tains been permitted to enjoy even a year's perfect 
tranquillity. 

In 1668, Mohamet Pasha, of Constantinople, was 
despatched with special instructions to the Lebanon, 
for the purpose of effecting a better organisation of 
a system of government ; he established the seat of 
government at the favourite port of Sidon, which had 
then been famous as head-quarters for the crusading 
forces of the Franks, and which has ever since been 
nominally, though by no means virtually, reckoned in 
11 topographical works under the class of an Aelet or 
pashalic of Syria. 

It would be equally unprofitable and disgusting 
to trace incident by incident, the misfortunes or 
successes of this intrepid people; for the annals of 
their history reveal too often proof positive of their 
having been victimized by the abominable and syste- 
matic treachery of the understrappers of the Turkish 
government. Every record of any success or advantage 
gained by the Ottomans has been notoriously marked 
by duplicity and treachery, such as would never be 
countenanced even by the Turkish government itself 
at the present enlightened period; and yet notwith- 
standing the many adverse circumstances opposed to 
their success, the Druses, though invariably sufferers, 
have maintained their position and existence, which is 
another remarkable proof that this people have been 



280 



BANEFUL POLICY OF THE PASHAS. 



permitted, unprotected and apparently insignificant in 
numbers, to resist the aggression of the lords of the land. 
And when this fact is duly considered, it only confirms 
the force of that singular prophecy which, indicating 
so minutely a people in their very position, intimates 
that they should be left as a beacon and a scourge to 
try the strength of that more fortunate people who 
should possess the fertile lands of Palestine. 

In 1693 there appeared upon the mountains evi- 
dence of that baneful system of policy which had 
hitherto been pursued by all foreign diplomatists, 
and which seems to have had for its object the only 
means of weakening the strength of a self- powerful 
government. Even at that early period the Emir found 
to his dismay that the various pashas in the neighbour- 
ing pashalics had resorted to the hurtful influence 
of spies and interlopers, in order to interfere materially 
with the usual quiet proceedings of his administration ; 
and worked up to a pitch of frenzy, he adopted the 
stratagem of feigning submission, at the same time 
that it was farthest from his intention to yield any 
of his just prerogatives. He succeeded beyond hope 
in allaying their suspicions, at the same time that 
he took occasion to concentrate a considerable force 
at one of the most formidable outposts of these 
people; and he contrived eventually to repulse all their 
intrusive efforts; so that coming down to the year 
1700, we find the Druses singularly free from the 
persecutions of their oppressors. 



A YOUTHFUL CHIEFTAIN. 



281 



In 1706 a young and inexperienced chieftain assumed 
the supreme command of the Druse tribes. As might 
have been expected, his very youth militated against his 
position ; and the surrounding sycophants of the various 
divans held by the Turkish Sultans took due oppor- 
tunity of abusing such advantages. First of all they 
led this boy into the error that they were especially 
sent to pacify that warlike people over whom, he had 
assumed a command, and then inadvertently and by 
working upon his want of experience, they endeavoured 
to prove to him how feasible was the task of assuming 
a supreme command ; till eventually, lost to all proper 
sense of his individual position, he perpetrated acts 
which finally led to the extermination of his diminutive 
power. 

It is not far out of place, and it may detract from 
the forbidding contemplation of that peculiar sway 
under which the people were labouring, if we are 
permitted here to quote an absurd and ridiculous fable, 
one which yet carries with it an undeniable moral as 
regards the state of the Turkish government and its 
influence as it existed a hundred years ago, and as, 
with very little alteration, it remains up to the present 
moment. The story says that — 

" Two men once traded in Antioch, both in their 
own way merchants of that city. The one was an 
Armenian, wealthy beyond calculation for those coun- 
tries where so little money covers such great expense ; 
the other was an adventurer, such as is to be met with 



282 



THE MERCHANT OF ANTIOCH. 



even to the present day, yet a man of strict punctuality 
in all mercantile negotiations, and one who might have 
deemed it a sin to cheat anybody out of more than 
one hundred per cent, clear profit. 

"Unfortunately for this last, he encountered in 
business transactions the keen and sophisticated 
Armenian, who, amongst other matters relative to 
commerce, possessed an amazing quantity of hares' 
tails, an article used almost exclusively by the bankers 
and other rich Armenians of these little-frequented 
parts in lining their cloaks, in lieu of sables. Such 
an article the unhappy speculator had deemed an 
infallible source of gain ; but, much to his astonish- 
ment, and as much to his disappointment, he discovered 
after a few days' itineration, that such things were 
not in requisition at that moment in Antioch. He 
was consequently very much dispirited as to the 
eventual results or profits of this minor speculation ; 
and so, downcast beyond measure, he loitered about the 
neighbourhood of the city, till he accidentally encoun- 
tered the Mutzellem of the district, who was himself dis- 
guised, when the latter, remarking the peculiar downcast 
features of our merchant, inquired the cause of his sor- 
row; and when informed of its peculiar aspects, he volun- 
tarily offered to make due restitution to the speculator 
for his losses, provided always that he should maintain 
a perfect silence upon the subject of their interview. 
This the man immediately promised ; and next day, 
much to his consternation, and infinitely to the 



hares' tails. 



283 



surprise of all Armenian bankers then resident in that 
part, an edict was issued, which commanded the 
personal attendance of every individual Armenian 
residing within the precincts of the pashalic ; with 
this stipulated understanding, that every individual of 
them was to appear habited, in addition to their 
regular cloaks and pelisses, with the singular attach- 
ment of a hare's tail suspended from each pelisse. 
Such an edict, incontrovertible in its bearing, com- 
pelled every man to resort to this unhappy vendor $ 
hares' tails ; and the result was, that the hitherto 
unfortunate proprietor of this singulargly insignificant 
property disposed of his curious capital at a heretofore 
unheard-of price, and the individual Armenian who 
had cajoled him into the bargain was compelled nolens 
vokns, for the protection not only of his dignity, but 
of his estate and life, to accept of one of these singular 
appendages at the value insisted upon by the vendor, 
— he was compelled to pay a most exorbitant and 
unheard-of price." 

In order the better to ingratiate certain parties upon 
the mountains, the Ottoman government resorted to the 
artifice of bestowing a much higher title than was hereto- 
fore adopted by the Druse chieftains, to a friendly sheik; 
and acting upon this appointment this person proceeded 
to take possession of his new post at Deir-il-Kamar. 
This occasioned a sudden but violent collision which 
gave the Turks a momentary success, but in the main 



284 REVOLT OF THE NATIVES OF THE BEKAA. 

the advantages gained were only superficial ; so a petty 
warfare, aggravating in its effects and annoying in its 
results, was carried on between the Turkish authorities 
and the independent hardy chieftain of the Lebanon, 
resulting equally in the discomfort and vexation of both 
parties. 

We hear of nothing that is possessed of charms or 
interest to the general reader, in connection with the 
history of these people, until the year 1741, when the 
iatives of the Bekaa revolted against the Emir for 
having imposed upon their generosity by quartering a 
vast number of troops upon their territory. At this 
particular period, happily for themselves, a better 
feeling united the interests and valour of the sheiks of 
the Lebanon ; and their united strength resisted with 
ease any encroachments threatened by their adversaries 
the Turks. Meanwhile the latter never permitted a 
stone to remain unturned in their intrigues and efforts 
to secure, by some treachery or other, the interests of 
one party against the interest of another, invariably 
working upon jealousies for the express purpose of 
weakening the internal government. 

In 1748 the authority and power of the Lebanon 
Emir was augmented aud confirmed by the Turkish 
authorities, who conferred upon him the government of 
Baalbec and the Bekaa; and under the skilful govern- 
ment of this person much of the internal discord 
reigning amongst the chiefs was appeased : he knew how 
to work well and happily upon the peculiar foibles of each, 



THE RENOWNED DAHER, 



285 



so as to concentrate in his own person their respective 
esteem, at the same time that by pacific representations 
and by eloquent arguments he pacified the secret ill-will 
existing between each party, so that securing their 
unity and strength he set at defiance the fear of all 
external invasion. 

In the year 1668, Daher, a powerful mountain sheik, 
carrying his independence further than it had ever 
been pushed by any of the Druse chieftains, actually 
obtained, by means of bribery and threats, the powerful 
position and titles of Sheik of Acre, Nazareth, Tiberius, 
Safat, and Galilee, — an occurrence unprecedented in the 
records both of Ottoman and Druse history, and one 
which gives indication of the miserable state of the 
Turkish government at that peculiar period, in allow- 
ing the government of some of the fairest portions of 
their territories to fall into the hands of unbelievers, 
or, at best, dissenters from the Islam faith. 

An incident is recorded of one Turk and his two 
sons, governing between them the three principal 
pashalics of Syria and Palestine. This, it had been 
hoped by the Sultan's government, would considerably 
augment the power and influence of the Ottomans in 
Syria, as it was natural to expect that the interests of 
father and sons would be one and the same. The 
result, however, proved the very contrary; for the 
Druse chieftain, aided by fortuitous circumstances 
and by treachery in the enemy's camp, routed the 
Ottoman pashas in the very first engagement and 



286 



CIVIL WAR. 



entirely discomforted their armies, which were ulti- 
mately compelled to treat for the good-will of the Druse 
chieftain, whilst the Turkish government — tottering 
on its very foundations, rent with civil discord, and 
menaced by powerful Northern hordes, — even at that 
time a victim to the intrigues and ambition of Kussia, 
dared not persist in further resistance against a man 
whose courage was as undaunted as that of the lion, 
whilst his people were invincible and his positions and 
fastnesses impregnable to a dispirited and ill-officered 
army. 

In 1772 affairs took a sudden and unexpected 
change, the tide commencing to roll in an opposite 
direction. From the first outbreak of a revolution in 
Egypt secret emissaries had been at work in the 
mountains. Many of the Druse sheiks, combining with 
the Ottoman forces, besieged Sidon. Daher, nothing 
intimidated by these sudden reverses, galloped off to 
Acre with an escort of about eight hundred troops, and 
encountering some Russian vessels of war at Caifa, 
absolutely negociated with these strangers, by means of 
bribes, to assist him in maintaining the independence 
of the mountains against the invasion of the Ottoman 
Sultan. The whole extent of the Lebanon was thrown 
into the most pitiable state of discord and rebellion; 
thousands of Druses under their discontented sheiks 
embracing the one side, against thousands of Druses on 
the other; but when it came to a fierce contest, the 
lukewarmness of their attachment to the Turks became 



DAIIER VICTORIOUS. 



287 



at once discernible, and the Druses, as though insti- 
gated by one impulse, quitted the ranks of the Turks 
and rushed over to their brethren in arms. The 
Russians bombarded the towns ; and the result was that 
Daher was again victorious; and the name of this 
chieftain henceforward became sufficient to inspire the 
greatest terror in the bosoms of all enemies to the 
mountain tribes of Lebanon. 



288 



CHAPTER XXL 



THE FALL OF JAFFA — DJEZZAR PASHA — NAPOLEON BONAPARTE — 
EGYPT — PANORAMA OF THE PAST — JOSEPH AND THE ISHMAELITE 
MERCHANTS — RECEPTION OF JACOB IN EGYPT — THE EXODUS 
FROM EGYPT — OVERTHROW OF THE EGYPTIAN ARMY — THE 
HIYITES AND THE DRUSES — ORIGIN OF THE DRUSES — THE 
DRUSE CREED — MISSIONARY LABOUR. 



. . . Oh, but man — proud man! 
Dressed in a little brief authority, 
His glassy essence, like an angry ape, 
Plays such fantastic tricks before high Heaven 
As make the angels weep. 

Measure for Measure. 



In the year 1775 Gaza, that desolation which remains 
to the present day unfortified, was assailed and was 
easily vanquished by Mohamet Bey and his troops. 
Not so, however, Jaffa ; which having once successfully 
repulsed the efforts of the Osmanli invader proudly with- 
stood him, hoping by perseverance to support the cause 
of Daher. Hemmed in on all sides, the Druses durst not 
stir, the Metuales were discontented, the head chieftain 
summoned assistance from all quarters of his district ; 
but as these summonses were unaccompanied by bribes 



THE FALL OF JAFFA. 



289 



or baksheeshes, they proved of null effect; and too 
avaricious even to supply the necessary provisions 
which might have contributed in assisting the besieged 
citizens and enabling them to resist the horrors of a 
siege, he refrained from even making an effort to 
ameliorate their condition. The result was that Jaffa 
fell and the high road to Acre was thrown open. 

This was a terrible disaster, a cleath-blow to the 
security of most of those Oriental chieftains, who had 
counted mainly upon the resistance of their outposts. 
Daher and his companions fled in consternation when 
the news of the fall of Jaffa first reached them ; and 
there is no calculating what the results of this fearful 
calamity might have proved, had not death suddenly 
intervened and deprived the Egyptian troops of their 
brave and indefatigable commander. Soon after the 
demise of this general, and at the very moment that the 
Ottoman government was professing sincere friendship 
towards Daher, the Lebanon chief, a Turkish fleet 
approached Sidon, and a bombardment ensued which 
too clearly evinced to the confiding mountaineer that 
he had trusted beyond prudence in a perfidious ally; 
and too late he found himself surrounded by the most 
treacherous of treasonable allies. He finished his short 
but glorious career by being shot dead when in the very 
act of flight by a common peasant, who lifting his 
musket took a hazard aim, and pierced the unfortunate 
chieftain's heart. 

In 1788, Djezzar, of infamous memory, named the 

u 



290 



DJEZZAR PASHA, 



Emir Bechir Shehaab, at that time a youth in the 
twenty -fourth year of his age, supreme governor of the 
Lebanon. This prince was evidently a tool in the hands 
of that audacious general, who himself acting the part 
of an inferior yet usurped such authority as has seldom 
been aimed at, much less attained, by men of a similar 
grade in life. With all his barbarity and cruelty, 
however, Djezzar was a man possessed of the keenest 
perception as regarded distinguishing the characteristic 
attributes of individuals. No romance is more fertile 
of subject, more productive of moral, than the life and 
career of this Emir Shehaab. Originally intrusted by 
his superior chief on the mountains as a subordinate 
tax-gatherer, the youth evinced so much callous heart - 
lessness of disposition that he immediately won upon 
the cruel sympathies of that villanous chieftain. 
Djezzar, glad to hear that no tale of woe, no suf- 
fering or misery, could arrest the progress of this 
tax-gathering miscreant, was so delighted to find a 
congenial spirit, that he absolutely sent messengers to 
fetch him to his palace at Acre ; and there treating him 
with every mark of distinction, invested him with the 
pelisse of honour, and sent him to assume the chief 
command of the Lebanon, at the head of a thousand 
soldiers. 

There was some resistance offered to his progress at 
the onset ; but having successfully overcome this and 
sent his predecessor to wander as a vagrant and an 
outcast in the deserts, he established his seat ; and the 



DJKZZAR PASHA. 



291 



better to secure the foundations of his position, com- 
menced a system of extortion heretofore unheard of in 
the mountains, but which contributed to promoting the 
temporal welfare of the Pasha Djezzar. 

At first everything succeeded to his heart's content, 
but the old man whom he had ousted from his home 
and country, wandering about like a troubled spirit, 
too old for immediate action and yet unwilling to resign 
the reins of authority, condescended to humble himself 
to a par with his own position ; and entering into the 
presence of Djezzar with a handkerchief tied round his 
neck, both ends of which, in token of submission, hung 
upon his breast, the ousted chieftain perfectly succeeded 
in securing the good-will and patronage of the blood- 
thirsty Djezzar, and basking under the shadow of his 
protection sought and nearly obtained the overthrow of 
his rival. 

It would be painful and disagreeable to people of 
refined sentiments to follow step by step the infamies 
that now characterise the pages of the history of 
this country. Whoever paid the highest price was 
certain of the strongest support ; and Bechir succeeded 
for a time, though in numerical force he was very defi- 
cient, in opposing the pretensions of all other aspirants 
to supreme sway in Lebanon. 

Djezzar being obliged, as was his annual custom, to 
accompany the Hadj for a certain distance, was com- 
pelled to leave his protege to keep his own position 
against overwhelming powers; these soon defeated and 

u 2 



292 



NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 



overcame his position ; but Djezzar himself, on his re- 
turn from his pilgrimage, passed that way, and earned 
a dreadful satisfaction by the cruel fierceness of his 
natural disposition ; and as was the usual result of all 
operations undertaken by himself, he completely subju- 
gated the mountains and annihilated their spirit of 
independence, so much so that though the man and 
his accursed works have long since crumbled into dust, 
the very utterance of his name now finds an echo in 
many a desolate and solitary part of the Lebanon, 
which seems to groan forth a lamentation for the blood 
shed in his day. 

After this the greatest event that has occurred in the 
history of this most remarkable people took place, when 
that successor of the greatest general of the universe hav- 
ing defeated the powers at Egypt, Napoleon Bonaparte 
marched his invincible forces towards the strongholds 
of these mountain people. It was a pity to think that 
so much courage and so great corporeal influence should 
be thrown away ; it was a pity to think that he who 
counted himself the conqueror of the world should be 
frustrated by any man inferior to that position ; yet so 
great was the love of liberty, so powerful the influence 
that induced tribes of different sects and religion to 
contribute towards the independence of the mountains, 
that it would have been a miracle indeed had any man 
personally and unaided succeeded in effecting the subju- 
gation of these parts. So it happened that, unwittingly, 
the greatest men whose names do honour to the records 



EGYPT— -PANORAMA OF THE PAST. 



293 



of history, assembled in that country of old, and took 
their own measures for the better amelioration of inter- 
nal government. 

What grand associations are connected with Egypt, 
— that wonderful country, that land many times blessed 
and frequently accursed ! As we climb up the height 
of the greatest pyramid, on its summit let us con- 
template the changes that have occurred in the long 
interval since the erection of that great monument to 
the present day. 

From such an eminence, looking toward the land 
of Goshen we espy travellers coming in that direction,— 
an old man, with his wife, his children, and his ser- 
vants; but he is very anxious to get to his journey's 
end. This is Abraham, with his wife and brother-in- 
law, travelling from the land of promise, and there is 
no doubt that they will obtain their position in that 
promised land. You and I might still encounter similar 
individuals, as far as costume, features, and other 
characteristics are concerned. The same people travel 
to the present day ; but there was something remark- 
able and astounding about this caravan. The halo of 
glory seems to have accompanied Abraham wherever 
he sojourned ; and even here, as we all know, he became 
the guest of the lord of the land, until his falsehood 
concerning Sarah brought retribution upon the head of 
the prince. 

But we are straying from the immediate subject of 
our theme. Abraham and his generation have been 



294 JOSEPH AND THE ISHMAELITE MERCHANTS. 

gathered to their fathers: Isaac, his immediate heir, 
has also gone to the last account; but if we look 
steadfastly and firmly towards this said land of Goshen, 
we observe another caravan approaching. These are 
Ishmaelite merchants, — men who would traffic their 
own soul for the gain of a few piastres; men such as 
existed twenty centuries ago, men such as are to be 
met with even at the present day. They have rare 
spices amongst their merchandise, drugs and curiosities 
from the distant shores of India; but above all, and 
far more valuable, they possess a slave, — a youth pur- 
chased in the wilderness of Judea, sold by his own 
fraternity into that state of bondage which must 
inevitably entail a life of misery and hardship. 

There is an invisible hand directing the course of 
this caravan, and protecting this ill-treated young 
man from the visitation of sin and wickedness. Those 
merchants are the Ishmaelites who traded with Syria ; 
that slave is the boy Joseph, born to accomplish won- 
derful results, born to typify the Redeemer, born to be 
a by-word and a proverb not only amongst his own 
people, but amongst all succeeding generations who 
shall place their faith and hope in the stupendous mys- 
teries of Christianity. 

And so years roll on : we look out a third time 
towards the land of Goshen; valiant men in armour, 
brave soldiers and chariots, sweep forward towards the 
precincts of the desert, to meet and welcome a distin- 
guished guest. If we confined our attention to demea- 



RECEPTION OF JACOB IX EGYPT. 



295 



nuiir and to vestments, there is nothing peculiarly 
striking about this individual stranger, though he 
comes with a great company, with many flocks and 
herds, and women and children. He, in his own 
insignificance, reckons himself no better than a shep- 
herd. Still that man's history is a link, and a very 
remarkable one, in the succession of promises made by 
God to mankind ; for from his seed were to spring the 
most marked characters that have ever been recorded 
in the pages of the world's history. 

Inscrutable are the ways of righteousness! This 
very man had acquired his dignity and position through 
an act of deception, with which all readers are fami- 
liar. The then existing state of civilisation may be 
mentioned as a plea for the subtlety of the patriarch 
Jacob, for he it is whose forthcoming has excited 
tumultuous scenes in the streets of Egypt, so much so, 
that even the king from his tesselated palace at 
Thebes sent forth emissaries to invite the pilgrim 
stranger to an interview within the halls of the 
royal palace of Karnac ; and the man that went forth 
with chariots to welcome this pilgrim stranger was 
Joseph the lost son of the patriarch himself. And if 
we could draw a picture, or if we could write a 
poem, never, surely, was there a more delightful 
theme than the meeting of those two virtuous and 
excellent men. 

Again, with attentive ear we listen to the mourn- 
ful wail that sweeps through the streets of the 



296 



THE EXODUS FROM EGYPT. 



city, and then rises up even to the summits of this 
tremendous pyramid. It is not the voice of lamenta- 
tion raised by Rachael weeping for her children, but it 
is a groan from the oppressed and troubled spirits of 
those whose sons have fallen a sacrifice to the caprice 
and iniquity of an Egyptian sovereign; and yet the 
flushing waters of the Nile float upon their surface a 
remarkable barge, a boat made of bulrushes, and the 
queen's daughter stepping aside from her evening walk, 
rescues the prophet king of Israel from a watery 
grave. 

The cycles of time revolve, and the same boy, grown 
a man in years and understanding, frustrates the design 
of the wicked by personal interference, and the slayer 
is slain, whilst ingratitude, that terrible characteristic 
of the Hebrew people, compels the defender of the 
innocent to flee his country. 

The pages of past history are blown over by the 
breezes of time that has been, and from our lofty seat 
on the pyramids we discern a sight such as is seldom 
witnessed by human beings, marking the exodus of 
the Israelites from Egypt. A mighty multitude, with 
their ornaments and ear-rings sparkling in the sunshine, 
steal forth unheeded or uncared for; but it is only 
for a time ; for mightier than a tempest sweeping 
over the surface of that hot and little-cultivated 
country, the chariots of the Egyptians raise a per- 
fect hurricane, as lashed-on and goaded horses tear 
over the unfertile soil, the drivers of those chariots 



OVERTHROW OF THE EGYPTIAN ARMY. 



297 



bursting with vengeance yet to be wreaked on the 
beads of tbe Israelites. But such was not their fate ! 

A mightier and more terrible doom awaited these 
scoffers of the creed of the God of Israel ! There is a 
voice of many angry waters — the tumultuous rush of 
torrents — the desperate scream of despair — the violent 
death struggle — the foam and the perturbation of trou- 
bled waters ! The scene is done — the tragedy ended. 
God in his Almighty wrath has demonstrated one atom 
of the immensity of his power, and the whole army of 
the Egyptians has been swept into perdition. 

And after this there is a terrible interval, a period 
wdien neither the knowledge of God nor the dictates of 
the human conscience could induce men to forsake 
the darkest and most absurd superstition. But our 
field of investigation lies thitherward; we track foot- 
step by footstep on the sandy and little-frequented 
deserts of Arabia the march of that mighty multitude 
whose bread was never lacking, whose water flowed 
from the most stubborn rocks ; and yet with all these 
wonderful sympathies there was something which 
rendered them inert and stubborn in the actual 
presence of benevolence, even with the palpable fact 
before them of their every-day bread depending upon 
the miraculous intervention of the Almighty. 

These people were sufficiently foolhardy to find it 
in their heart to deny the existence of what they barely 
dared to refute; and so they wandered forty years 
without patron or guide saving those in whose authority 



298 



THE HIVITES AND THE DRUSES. 



they placed no confidence, until at last, in another 
generation, they reached the land long promised to 
their ancestors. 

Before this period, little if anything was known of 
those magnificent mountains since then celebrated in 
sacred Writ, noted in ancient history, recorded as the 
finest and most magnificent portion of the Holy Land, 
and famous for having furnished that timber which 
was requisite for the construction of the Temple. 

But since the memorable epoch of the victorious 
invasion and subjugation of these lands, when Lebanon 
rose into repute, it is most remarkable that even 
those invincible warriors, the sons of Judah, who for 
armour buckled on the shield of the Almighty, even 
they never could effectually overcome or vanquish that 
early people who amongst other tribes inhabited the 
Lebanon; even down to the present hour no potentate, 
no power, can proclaim that they have effectually 
subdued these hardy sons of a mountain clime. 

It is not within the reach of human comprehension, 
even did inclination tend in that way, to pretend to 
ascribe to the present Druses of the Lebanon any lineage 
which might prove their descent from the Hivites. The 
fact is that no man living could accomplish such a feat; 
but as far as human foresight, or rather comprehension, 
can discern, the present inhabitants of the Lebanon are 
a people equally as brave as those who at the exodus of 
the Israelites were permitted to remain there, to act as 
a check upon their audacity, and to remind them that 



ORIGIN OF THE DRUSES. 



299 



with God everything was possible, and without his 
assistance even the most trivial wars were dubious both 
in their character and as to their results. 

Beyond a doubt, whatever grave theorists may say, 
there is an inherent virtue in people as a class, a 
peculiar system and belief which indirectly descends 
from generation to generation. Though these very 
people may have in the lapse of time changed their 
theories and doctrines ; and although it might be 
a feasible theory to presume that the people who 
have so long held sway upon these very mountains 
are of the same race as that old people, the Hivites, 
we have unfortunately no record to refer to, no plau- 
sible ground on which to pronounce that such is the case. 
Although the beginning or the origin of the Druses, 
however, is and must ever remain an un solvable mystery 
to the curious, it is feasible and plausible to suppose 
that this peculiar sect originated with the freemasons 
that followed upon the steps of Solomon. Theirs was a 
mystery that has ever remained closed or a sealed 
secret, and so is it with the Druses. 

But if we follow the dictates of common sense, it 
stands to reason that the greater probability is, and we 
are helped out in this suggestion by the creed here- 
after to be perused, that their grand point consists in 
mystery, so that the most learned amongst them get so 
much involved in absurdly foolish theoretical doctrines, 
that they confound themselves and are really at a loss 
to account for any of the dogmas of their creed. This 



300 



THE DRUSE CREED. 



may be said in a great measure with reference to all 
heathen religions: there is a something so like absurdity 
in all their creeds, which induces one to suppose that 
ignorance must always have the supremacy over super- 
stition; and therefore it appears to me an absurd and 
futile attempt to endeavour to discover mysteries where 
none exist. 

However much learned theologians may differ from 
my opinion, it will generally be found the greatest mys- 
tery in any outlandish or heathen religion is the gross 
absurdity of its precepts. No man with ordinary 
understanding can peruse the creed appended to this 
work without instantly arriving at the conclusion that 
either a fool, a madman, or a drunkard, composed it ; 
and yet there is more of the knave than of unwitting 
folly in it, so much so, that although it is a terrible thing 
to think that every man and woman of this brave and 
independent people put their souls into the hands of 
their Akals, yet these Akals themselves are not 
in a position to explain away a single difficulty that 
presents itself in a creed so full of errors and ab- 
surdities. 

In spite of all the questions about missionary 
labour in the East, the fact reduces itself to this: 
teach a man to appreciate the strength of his own 
intellect; let him know that he has got a mind, and 
cultivate that mind ; and then perhaps something like 
the shade of perception and understanding may dawn 
upon him, and he may come actually to know that he 



MISSIONARY LABOUR. 



301 



is a being sent into the world to fulfil a specific 
object, to render to his neighbours by word or action 
that benevolence which is immediately derived from 
the fountain-head of all goodness and mercy. 



302 



CHAPTER XXII. 

THE DRUSES AND THE ENGLISH — IBRAHIM PASHA — POLICY OT 
IBRAHIM PASHA — OUTBREAK AMONG THE DRUSES — INDIVIDUAL 
SUFFERING — EUROPEAN POLICY — THE CONVENT AT DEIR-IL- 
KARKAFE — A SHREWD PRIEST — HIS SUCCESS IN AMERICA — 
STRIA A FIELD FOR EMIGRANTS — LOYALTY OF THE DRUSES — 
EFFECTS OF PETTY WARFARE— PROSPECTS OF PEACE. 

O war, what art thou? 
At once the proof and scourge of man's fall'n state. 
After the brightest conquest what appears 
Of all thy glories ? For the vanquish'd, chains ! 
For the proud victor, what ? alas ! to reign 
O'er desolated nations. 

H. More. 

Disquiet still continued to reign upon the moun- 
tains, and every occasion concurred in strengthening 
the link between the Druses and the English government. 
England was now fast gaining political ascendancy in 
the East, and that sympathy commenced to exist which 
has ever since been a remarkable feature in our inter- 
course with the mountains. 

A perfect romance might be gathered from the 
records of the friendship that existed between the great 



THE DRUSES AND THE ENGLISH. 



303 



English admiral and the mountain chieftain of those 
lays; and perhaps among a people who adhere in 
a great measure to traditionary law. this may account 
for the sincere and cordial friendship existing even 
to the present moment between the Druses of 
Mount Lebanon and the English; so much so. that 
were the preference given them, they would at once, 
and without the slightest hesitation, accept of the 
chance of being taken under the protection of the 
British government. Often in friendly conversation I 
have mooted this subject with them, and as often have 
they expressed an ardent wish to be recognised, even 
only as proteges of that glorious people, whose fame 
extends from one end of the universe to the other; 
under whose sway liberated slaves may bask, and the 
Indian, the African, the remotest native of little-known 
countries rejoice in the title afforded them to claim 
the privilege of freemen. 

But return we to the immediate subject under inves- 
tigation. Long and bitterly did these brave moun- 
taineers resist, with certain sueccess, the audacious 
taxation and cruelties of that terrible man Djezzar, 
until, at length, that man of infamous memory finished 
his bloody career so terribly tinged with crime and 
infamy, that even in that awful hour when the 
hardest and most villanous are presumed to labour 
under remorse of conscience, this worse than fiend 
occupied his time in adding to the list of victims 
whom he had intended to devote to sudden and unmer- 



304 



IBRAHIM PASHA. 



eifol death ; and so with the death warrant of upwards 
of one hundred peaceable citizens, waiting only for 
signature, under that detestable pillow where his 
iniquitous head reposed, this man was summoned away 
to that fearful retribution, that terrible judgment seat, 
at which even the most righteous and excellent of men 
tremble to appear, and where such as himself might 
well indeed call upon the mountains to fall upon them 
and annihilate them at once. 

The last and most alarming outbreak was that which 
occurred towards the close of the Egyptian occupa- 
tion of Syria under Ibrahim Pasha, in 1840, when, 
amongst other contending parties, the English lent 
earnest aid in freeing these people from the insup- 
portable yoke of a most terrible oppressor. It would 
seem as though the prophecy of Isaiah had only just 
then been accomplished. Of a truth, had that ruthless 
commander remained empowered to exercise sway upon 
the Lebanon, not a vestige of those mighty and well- 
famed cedars would have remained to give evidence of 
the most striking feature, through ages and generations, 
connected with this district. Ibrahim Pasha was of a 
truth a speculator in timber; whole forests groaned 
beneath the axe swayed by his people, and from the 
Taurus to Lebanon one immense commerce was con- 
tinually being transacted in transporting and carrying 
wood and timber of every species from Syria into 
Egypt. It was there also, apparently, that another and 
a remarkable prophecy in connection with these 



POLICY OF IBRAHIM PASHA. 



305 



countries seemed to have been perfected, that was the 
one relative to a highway being established between 
Egypt and Syria. 

It is in connection with the ousting of this bold 
and independent general that we now review the last 
important revolution amongst these mountaineers. 
Sturdy men at all times, they were not the least likely 
to rebel, and avert if possible the overwhelming oppres- 
sion of a perfect despot, especially when his supreme 
and despotic sway became paralysed and began to be 
alleviated by the knowledge that powerful assistance 
was at hand to aid them in throwing off the yoke : 
and yet many of their principal chiefs were deterred 
from lending that help which might have materially 
contributed to accelerate the expulsion of the Egyptians 
from Syria. 

The fact was, that Ibrahim Pasha was as great 
a politician as he proved himself a general; and 
by the stratagem of retaining the sons and friends 
of the most powerful Druse commanders in his 
own service, he compelled them, contrary to their 
inclination, to refrain from adopting those active 
measures which would otherwise have considerably 
assisted the efforts of the allies in expelling the 
troops of Mohamet Ali Pasha. But at the same 
time that these people were resisting the encroach- 
ments of a foreign invader, they were suffering despe- 
rately from the harassing effect of internal and civil 
discord. It was believed that the difficulties existing 

x 



306 



OUTBREAK AMONG THE DRUSES. 



between the Maronites and the Druses had originally 
emanated from the false internal policy practised by 
the representatives of various European powers, who 
found it suitable to their purposes to unsettle the quiet 
of the mountains, so that the power of the Turkish 
authorities might be more shackled than ever, and 
local advantages ceded to each separate government, 
which could hardly have been acquired at any other 
epoch. 

The cause of the first outbreak originated in a trifle 
absurdly ridiculous in itself, and yet all-sufficient in a 
people jealous of each other's position to promote 
discord and internal strife. One peasant, either a 
Druse or a Maronite, it is not well ascertained which, 
encroached upon the privacy and independence of his 
neighbour by emptying a basketful of rubbish over 
his w^all and into the well-cared-for property of his 
neighbour. This personal feud gradually expanded, 
acquired champions on either side, and led to a down- 
right outbreak which ultimately settled down into 
little short of a civil war. Before this period, a 
considerable emigration had taken place, owing to 
the iniquitous oppression of the local government in the 
Latakia district ; so much so, that, as we have already 
seen, the greater mass of the Druse population migrated 
to the distant plains of the Houran. During this 
revolution such atrocities were enacted as can seldom 
find parallel in the pages of history. As a common 
evil the mischief it effected was great even beyond 



INDIVIDUAL SUFFERING. 



307 



calculation; but it was terrible when we come to 
enumerate individual instances of injury which not 
only entailed immense sacrifice of life, but ruined 
families and estates, and reduced those in middling 
circumstances to the lowest pitch of destitution. 

One individual instance of the injury inflicted at this 
time was represented in the person of a servant some 
years in the employment of my father, and who is, 
I believe, still with the family. Many and many an 
evening has he entertained or rather horrified me by 
retailing piecemeal some of the most terrible tragedies 
transacted during these diffiulties. The loss of wife 
and sisters, and indeed of any other relation, was an 
every hour occurrence: hemmed in their huts, whole 
families were exterminated by being suffocated in the 
flames, whilst their possessions and effects were razed 
to the ground. Most of the consular authorities then 
resident at Beyrout found it expedient to present 
themselves at the field of disorder, and the influence of 
some of these tended not a little in checking the 
most disastrous consequences. There is no doubt that 
but for their intervention the Druse party must have 
ultimately succumbed to the combined forces of that 
enemy against whom they were contending; for however 
brave and independent in their views, overwhelming 
forces, and the treachery of those on whom they most 
relied, must ultimately have annihilated their position. 
Even as matters stood, so jealously were they watched 
by contending influences that it was a remarkable fact 

x 2 



308 



EUROPEAN POLICY. 



at Beyrout, observed even by those least aspiring to 
the possession of any political influence, that no sooner 
did one fleet make its appearance off any of the ports 
in Syria, than another was sure to be signalled ; and 
any communication held with the shore was dogged 
and watched with that scrupulous precision, and yet 
with that quaint and eloquent civility that rendered it 
utterly impossible for either party to be on anything 
but the best of terms, whilst they were conscientiously 
spying out each other's actions and even weighing each 
others words. 

After considerable efforts on the part of European 
intermediators, peace and tranquillity were once again 
restored to the mountains; that is to say, the torch of 
civil warfare was temporarily smothered by the cloak 
of diplomacy, only to be rekindled five years afterwards 
with renewed energy and vigour. But none, save 
those few who have been accustomed to visit the sights 
of recent warfare, could form any adequate conception 
of the terrible desolation and misery entailed by a pre- 
datory warfare such as is usually waged by these 
mountaineers. Not a vestige of a village, or a town, 
or a monastery, was to be met with for miles and 
miles; fire had in a few hours blasted the intensest 
labours of a thriving and industrious people: whole 
fields of grain were laid desolate, mulberry planta- 
tions uprooted, and smouldering ruins were all that 
remained to testify to the stranger the exact site or 
position of any one village or town. Nor did those 



THE CONVENT AT DEIR-IL-KARKAFE. 



309 



religious recluses who dwelt within the strongholds 
of their monasteries and convents escape the scourge 
of warfare. 

It will be remembered that amongst other places 
visited during our rambles with the Druse on Mount 
Lebanon was the convent at Deir-il-Karkafe, where the 
brethren so hospitably entertained us, and where the 
earth yielded its rich increase in fruits and vegetables 
and flowers. Secluded and quiet, harmless and peaceable, 
as were those monks,, they could not escape from the 
fury of tumultuous hordes that bore down upon them 
even in their stronghold and solitude, and literally 
razed the building with the ground, enriching them- 
selves by sacrilege, depriving saints and altars of rich 
offerings, and permitting only the monks themselves to 
wander forth beggars upon the earth. 

It was well for them that amongst their number 
they counted one, a man of shrewd intellect, whose 
knowledge of Italian and deep reading in European 
literature gave him peculiar advantages over his 
brethren, and opened the door through which he might 
materially aid in recovering them their lost estate. 

It was during the last and most terrible revolution of 
1845 that this disaster was visited upon these unoffend- 
ing Christians; and the method deserves recording in 
which they recovered the means of re-building and 
re-beautifying the convent even so as to possess them- 
selves of more conveniences than they originally enjoyed. 

One day, two or three years after their disaster, a 



310 



A SHREWD PRIEST. 



priest, who had been in the habit of affording us many 
civilities whenever we visited the mountains, happened 
to be a guest at our house in Beyrout. In the course 
of conversation, and whilst the poor man was lament- 
ing the position of the monks and the ruined state of 
their convent, trying to hit upon some plausible 
method by which funds might be accumulated suffi- 
cient to restore it to its original condition, my father, 
casually and more in joke than in earnest, suggested to 
the priest that as he had an American vessel loading 
in the offing, and which was on the point of sailing 
for the United States, that he, the priest, should take 
his passage in her and see what he could accomplish 
with the Yankees. The priest hesitated only a few 
seconds, apparently lost in the deepest thought and 
contemplation ; suddenly and earnestly he started up 
exclaiming that that was just the thing that ought to 
be done; and, suiting the action to the word, he left 
my father to prepare strong letters of recommendation 
for him for persons in the United States, whilst he 
himself repaired home and speedily packed up a few 
things for the long sea voyage. Engaging an inter- 
preter of the English language, the priest went on 
board, and after a due course of sea-sickness and 
trouble reached the land of Jonathan. Here his case 
excited universal sympathy, and it only required one 
or two influential members of Congress to head the 
subscription list when dollars came rolling in like 
waves of the sea : indeed so notoriously was this priest 



HIS SUCCESS IN AMERICA. 



311 



successful in making a collection on behalf of the con- 
vent, that the fame of his success spread all over 
Europe and stirred up the gall and bitterness of his 
holiness the Pope, who gave strict orders that any 
further remittances should be arrested in their progress 
and handed over to the Church at Rome. 

To avoid such a catastrophe a third party was 
appointed- to receive and transmit the money, and 
as he chanced to hold a high official position, none 
durst interfere with the affair. By a stratagem full of 
wild romance this little travelled monk gained the 
sympathies of civilised strangers, and not only amassed 
a sufficiency to enable him to re-build with a surplus 
fund the convent on the Lebanon, but also to make on 
his return from America the grand tour of Europe and 
the Continent, so that when he came back to Beyrout 
he was both a travelled and accomplished gentleman, 
speaking English as fluently as the interpreter that 
he had taken with him. 

A rather remarkable feature of the last outbreak 
of the mountains, was the fact that the contending 
parties interfered considerably with some of the Ameri- 
can missionaries who were peaceably residing amongst 
them ; and so far did this interference extend, that it 
necessarily entailed the threats and animadversions of 
the European powers at Beyrout, so that their indepen- 
dence was more materially threatened than it ever had 
been before by any contending power. Assuredly, if by 
their misconduct to peaceable inhabitants, claiming the 



312 



SYRIA A FIELD FOR EMIGRANTS. 



protection of such great powers as England, France, 
and America, these people call down upon themselves 
their single or united vengeance, it will be the signal 
for the extinguishing of those beacon-lights which have 
blazed uninterruptedly upon the heights of Lebanon 
through centuries of time. 

If the mighty armies of Russia, with fleets and forti- 
fications apparently impregnable, have been driven 
before their victorious arms as chaff is scattered by a 
tempestuous wind, it stands to reason that however 
brave in this respect they will meet their equals, and 
as regards strength and numerical force, their superiors ; 
but it is also to be trusted that such a direful neces- 
sity will never come to pass, though one thing is certain, 
and that is, that if the results of the present campaign 
tend in any measure to throw open the countries of 
Syria and Palestine as a field for emigrants, or a country 
for colonies, then either the one or the other of the 
two most powerful people inhabiting the Lebanon must 
give way and succumb to the other, or else leave these 
regions and migrate to other parts. No sensible govern- 
ment, backed by the reins of power, will submit to the 
continual inconvenience and violation of the peace that 
result from the rapine almost annually perpetrated upon 
these mountains, owing to civil feuds rising out of the 
most absurd and contemptible causes ; but at the same 
time, whichever party remains in possession, as far as 
honesty and bravery are concerned, none merit such a 
country better than the Druses. 



LOYALTY OF THE DRUSES. 



313 



Of the present feature, both of the country and the 
political position of the people on Mount Lebanon, 
there is not much to be remarked. The gathering of 
war clouds over the threatened city of Stamboul has 
for some time past entirely engrossed the attention of 
all tribes dwelling up there. If they went up to the 
highest summits of their mountainous country, even to 
the top of G'bel Sanin, it was like the prophet's servant 
of old that climbed up to the highest summit of 
Carmel and gazed anxiously over the ocean in search of 
that small cloud which was to indicate the coming tem- 
pest of rain. Sometimes, even in the midst of the enthu- 
siasm caused by the success and progress of the Sultan's 
arms, they have even verged upon the very brink of 
another rupture ; so much so, that some eighteen 
months ago serious alarm was entertained that these 
people would be again embroiled in civil discord, and 
that taking advantage of the undefended position and 
desolate condition of many of the seaports and interior 
towns, they would carry their ravages even thither- 
ward, and reap immense plunder from the well-stocked 
warehouses of merchants of all nations. 

To their honour be it observed, however, that a stead- 
fast appeal to their loyalty was successful in appeasing 
the anger on both sides, so that being reminded how 
injurious at such a moment such an act of hostility 
might have proved to the interests of the Sultan, they 
very judiciously relinquished their private piques ; and 
in a spirit of enthusiasm the Druses volunteered to 



314 



EFFECTS OF PETTY WARFARE. 



send a considerable force to unite, under the banner of 
the Sultan, with that horde of wild warriors who 
seemed to have migrated from all parts of the East 
towards the seat of war, when once the banner was 
unfurled, and the tocsin sounded the alarum. 

The preceding brief gleanings from the history of 
the Druses will sufficiently indicate to the reader that 
at no time can any two consecutive travellers, following 
upon each other's footsteps, and tracking each other 
day by day, after an interval of months and years, 
ever hope to recognise by the features of the country, 
or the peculiarities of the buildings, any town or village 
in the whole of the district of Lebanon ; so baneful is 
the influence of their present system of government — 
so shocking the aggravating effects of jealousy and 
petty rivalries. 

But the term of such childish fooleries must now be 
nearly exhausted : it will remain only that these 
people should be put into direct and frequent commu- 
nication with the more civilised people of Europe, to 
convince them of one astounding fact to which they 
have been now long blinded. This fact is that during 
centuries of petty and insignificant warfare, they have 
gained no substantial advantage — reaped none but 
artificial benefits ; whilst, on the other hand, they 
have slowly but surely been depriving themselves of 
the only prop which could effectually support freedom 
and independence. They have been only too effectually 
undermining their own position, besides in every way 



PROSPECTS OF PEACE. 



315 



contributing to increase the sufferings and poverty of 
their descendants. 

The vast plantations of mulberry, so often uprooted 
and replanted, would, in times of peace, have thriven 
into forests of immense magnitude, and furnished an 
incredible supply of silk, which would have materially 
contributed to the coffers of the Druses. The same may 
be said of the grain wasted in warfare, of the labour 
destroyed by tire, and of all other property (without 
in the least alluding to the sacrifice of life) which 
has been thrown away in useless contentions. 

But now that one wing of the eagle of Russia has 
been palsied by British and French artillery, a per- 
manent peace may be speedily looked for upon the 
mountains: until such is established, we draw a veil 
over the past history and the present condition of the 
Druses, returning with greater pleasure to the inves- 
tigation of their country and its resources. 



316 



CHAPTER XXII. 



BEYROUT — THE DRUSE POPULATION — LEBANON — DRUSE TILLAGES — - 
HADDED — SIR SIDNEY SMITH AT AIN ANOOB — BRUMMANA — 
SALE OF TIMBER — THE VILLAGE OF CORNEILLE — A PRUSSIAN 
LADY — EFFECTS OF JEALOUSY — ESCAPE FROM PRISON — A FEAR- 
FUL TRAGEDY — A VICTIM TO JEALOUSY — DRUSE VILLAGES — IRON 
MINE. 



Her fate is whispered by the gentle breeze, 
And told in sighs to all the trembling trees. 
The trembling trees, in every plain and wood, 
Her fate re-murmur to the silver flood. 

Pope. 



Lying under the immediate shadow of lofty and 
bold mountains, is the city of Beyrout; but with this 
city we have nothing to do at the present moment, 
for we must first ,advert to the loftier and more 
substantial framework which constitutes one of the 
noblest pictures in the East. It would be superfluous 
to say that the immediate neighbourhood of the hills 
defining the landscape about Beyrout, is, without one 
solitary exception, the finest and most fertile in the 
known world; and it would seem to render us guilty 
of too frequent recapitulation, if we attempted to enter 
into minute descriptions of every particular hill. When 



BEYROUT — THE DRUSE POPULATION IN LEBANON. 317 

one portion has been described, every part is therein 
delineated; and it is only when relatively regarded as 
to population or importance, that any real practical 
difference can be supposed to exist. In a work like 
the present we have, therefore, little occasion to describe 
village by village ; yet there is really so much intrinsic 
beauty and so peculiar a recommendation to every 
distinct part, as regards climate, fertility, and industry, 
that it may be as well to take a brief and cursory 
survey of some of the more important points. 

We may premise before commencing, that the Druses 
on the Lebanon are estimated to amount to about 
29,000 souls, of whom upwards of 6,000 are capable, 
at a moment's warning, of obeying any summons to 
the battle-field ; but though this calculation undoubt- 
edly does not fall far short of the truth, no exact 
statistics of these facts have ever been obtained, as 
births, marriages, and deaths are not recorded by them 
in any register. 

And now to commence our enumeration of the 
villages. Starting from Beyrout, and passing out of 
the Bouebat-il-Suntie, we traverse a small sandy plain, 
and then come upon a rugged and rocky road, riding 
over which for about the space of half an hour we 
reach the grove of pines already referred to as the 
favourite rendezvous of the European denizens of Bey- 
rout during the cooler hours of the evening, and by 
which road, it will be remembered, we passed on our 
return from our mountain tour. This grove of pines, 



318 



DRUSE VILLAGES — HADDED. 



which is the pride and boast of Beyrout, was planted 
about two centuries and a half ago, by the renowned 
Druse Emir Fakereddeen, whose exploits have been 
recorded by us in those chapters allotted to a brief and 
casual history of the Druses. Their age being thus 
ascertained, the reader may form some conception of 
the stateliness of these trees, and of their magnificent 
appearance and delightful shady retreats, rising as 
they do over the burning sandy plain, and inviting 
man and beast to quiet and cool repose during the 
intensest heat of the noontide hours. 

Quitting this grove, our road lies through a very 
extensive olive plantation, which exceeds thirty miles 
in circumference ; but an hour's ride enables us to cross 
it at its narrowest part, and we then reach the village 
of Hadded, at the foot of the Lebanon. Hadded 
contains only a few Druse families, governed by a 
Maronite Emir, not in very affluent circumstances, 
inhabiting a miserable house, and himself labouring in 
the fields with the peasantry. At a short distance 
from Hadded is Baabda, another village containing 
but a few Druse families, and in no respect worthy of 
attention. 

Leaving these, we pursue our way over hills and 
through valleys, the beauty and picturesque appear- 
ance of which we have already had occasion to notice ; 
and after jogging along for a considerable period we 
arrive at the village of Ain Anoob, situated halfway 
between Beyrout and Deir~il-Kamar. This village is 



SIR SIDXEY SMITH AT AIN ANOOB. 



319 



the first of any consideration that we encounter on 
this tour, and contains a considerable number of inha- 
bitants, the great majority of whom are Druses, under 
the authority of a powerful Druse Emir. From the 
great number of houses it contains, the extremely 
pleasant position it occupies, surrounded as it is by 
exquisite features of landscape, and boasting of a 
palace which is really a spacious building, well deco- 
rated, with a fine sparkling fountain playing in the 
middle of the yard, — I say from all these considerations 
Ain Anoob may lay claim to our first consideration. 

Apart from all these, this little-frequented Druse 
village possesses peculiar charms for every English 
breast, having been the site of the celebrated inter- 
view which took place between the English Com- 
modore, Sir Sidney Smith, and the then Emir of 
Bet-il-Deen, when that brave and gallant sailor was 
sent with a small squadron to Syria in 1779, in order 
to impede the progress of Napoleon. It was here, at 
this insignificant village, that those two great men 
vowed friendship for each other; the one offering 
panniers of rice, to satisfy the cravings of the hungry 
mountaineers ; the other an equally satisfactory gift 
in the shape of a real bred Arabian mare. 

Making a tour through a country prolific in all the 
most bountiful gifts of Providence, where rich pas- 
turages are thickly dotted with contented and happy 
flocks, with many such sylvan bowers as might enchant 
Titvrian shepherds, and which are possessed of charms 



320 



DRUSE VILLAGES— BRUMMANA. 



for even the most unromantic of unromantic cockney 
travellers, we pass two villages, Aleja and Ariah, and 
then we cross the river of Bevrout ; then threading 
our way through the villages of Mansourie and Bet- 
Mirih, we reach Brurnmana. Brummana is reckoned 
one of the principal townships of the Druses on the 
Lebanon, and is moreover celebrated in the calends of 
Bey rout citizenship as a very favourite resort for the 
Europeans of that city, during the hot and sultry 
months of the summer. 

It would have been difficult, within the compass of 
many days' journey, to have fixed upon a spot more 
eligible in every respect, as a summer retreat, than 
this said village of Brummana; for here persons of 
the most opposite tastes and dispositions cannot fail 
finding wherewithal to satisfy their respective cravings 
for romantic scenery ; every lover of the marvellous, the 
sublime, may be satisfied. The cold, uncongenial heart 
of the canny, keen Highlander meets with a silent echo 
to his sentiments, as he jingles the bawbies in his pocket, 
and looks upon the wild, rocky, barren, uncultivated hill 
that rears itself up on that side he chooses to contem- 
plate; whilst for the more congenial and susceptible 
heart there is abundance of vegetation and verdure, wild 
flowers and blossoms, bees and honeycombs, birds, and 
gentle breezes; in short, everything that can contribute 
a theme for the pen of the poet, or the pencil of the 
painter. 

Brummana is indeed a village formed by nature 



SALE OF TIMBER. 



321 



to satisfy all tastes. The Emir is a Druse, and his 
palace a solid mansion, which is very pleasantly 
situated on the confines of a valley perched half-way 
up the summit of a hill ; and in addition, the Druses 
have a Khaloue, or place of worship, built of solid stone, 
and surmounted by a cupola — an addition which 
alone, in the eyes of a Druse, gives greater importance 
to a township, just as the Christian citizens of any 
particular town might boast of a cathedral or an 
elegant church. The principal resource of the natives 
of this village is the sale of timber, with which they 
supply themselves from a very extensive valley that runs 
for some distance round the country, filled with a 
dense and wealthy forest of firs. Of late years, the 
increasing population of Beyrout and other seaport 
towns, and the consequent increase of buildings of 
every description, have given this trade an impetus 
which has resulted greatly to the benefit of the 
villagers; for an incredible supply of timber has been 
required to meet the demand of even Beyrout alone, 
so that upon the whole Brummana may be ranked 
as one of the most thriving Druse villages of the 
Lebanon. 

There is one infallible feature which is always 
observable in connection with the wealth or prosperity 
of towns and villages in Syria ; that is, that wherever 
Europeans settle or make them a place of resort, then, 
as surely, the condition of the natives is speedily 
ameliorated, and they even grow wealthy. 



322 



THE VILLAGE OF CORNEILLE. 



In addition to the. forest already alluded to, the 
natives of Bruinmana have other sources of wealth in 
the olive groves and mulberry plantations which 
surround the village, and from whence, by industry 
and care, they glean a considerable revenue; most of 
the proprietors of silk cocoons disposing of them 
annually to those European merchants who are in the 
habit of speculating in such articles. There is an 
abundant supply of water, and the soil is of a loamy 
character, perhaps containing more sand than other 
matter; but from this fact it is well calculated for 
the cultivation of the potato, which has yet to be 
introduced into this part of the country. 

Leaving Brummana, and riding- through the forest 
whence its villagers derive their supply, we reach the 
village of Corneille, also inhabited by Druses under a 
Druse Emir, once the resort of some of the influential 
families residing at Beyrout, who were wont to retire 
to this utter seclusion for the better and uninterrupted 
enjoyment of nature, and who, hiring of the Emir his 
castle, revelled in the magnificent scenery that palace 
commands, and enjoyed nature in her finest and most 
primitive garb. But the hoot of the screech-owl or the 
death-watch in the chimney is not more ominous and 
terrible in the ears of the superstitious than is the now 
detested name of this quiet and retired village ; and yet 
it is hard that the foul sins of human wickedness 
should be visited upon the soil or the site where such 
atrocious deeds have been transacted. 



A PRUSSIAN LADY. 



323 



What has rendered Corneille particularly odious to 
Europeans, is the fact of a terrible tragedy having been 
enacted there so late as the year 1846. In the summer 
of that year M. de Wildenbruck, the then Prussian 
Consul-General at Beyrout, had chosen this village for 
his retreat, and conveyed his family thither, consisting, 
in addition to his own wife and children, of a young 
Prussian lady, who acted as companion to them, and 
who was descended of a most respectable family. 
Young, beautiful, and amiable, with all these traits 
thoroughly refined and brought out by an excellent 
education, she was indeed the beau ideal of what any 
European nation might be proud to boast of as a fair 
sample of the ladies of their country. In Syria, she 
was looked up to by every one who had the good 
fortune to make her acquaintance, in the light of a 
perfect angel of goodness and beauty. 

There were but few who possessed the melancholy 
satisfaction of boasting of her esteem and kindness so 
much as myself, for I know that I enjoyed her good 
will and kind wishes ; though at that period, it must 
be borne in mind, that I was barely twelve years 
old, and it was in the capacity of a child that I made 
and retained her friendship, for the Prussian Con- 
sul-General often gave juvenile entertainments, to 
which most of the children of the more respectable 
inhabitants of Beyrout were invited. Amongst these 
I was invariably included, and it was here, and while 
surrounded with innocence and youth, that I made 

Y 2 



324 



EFFECTS OF JEALOUSY. 



a fair estimation of the excellence and worth of this 
poor and amiable girl. 

Unfortunately for her, her surpassing physical and 
mental attractions were ultimately the cause of her 
untimely end. She had excited feelings of intensest 
love and passion in the breast of a menial then in the 
service of M. de W. ; and the foul demon jealousy, 
weighing heavily upon this monster's viliain-like frame, 
incited him to a crime the foulest ever registered in 
the records of infamy. He had aspired to possess 
himself of the heart and hand of this girl; but apart 
from the difference in their nature, education, and 
position, the girl's pure affections had already been 
affianced to one apparently in every respect worthy 

of them, and this was Mr. S , the then Prussian 

Consul at Jerusalem. How often, alas ! do we find 
much alloy in the cup which contains what we mis- 
call human happiness ; but there never was a more heart- 
rending, a more terrible example than the present, nor 
yet a better moral than might be gleaned from every 
incident of this transaction. The servant, finding his 
claim slighted, and the preference given to one in 
every way his superior, turned deep love into deadly 
hate, and maddened by excessive jealousy, swore and 
accomplished a fearful revenge. It too often happens 
that for want of proper determination of purpose and 
decision, the most lamentable results ensue, which 
might have been parried or even effectually prevented, 
had proper measures and a stern sense of duty pre- 



EFFECTS OF JEALOUSY. 



325 



vailed over a false sympathy and a misplaced feeling 
of esteem. This was precisely the case as regards the 
terrible catastrophe at present under consideration. 

The enraged and baffled servant had publicly and 
violently declared against what he termed the violation 
of his affections by the preference shown to his rival ; 
and yet strange to say, in all that fierce moment of 
bursting and boiling passion, of maddened wrath and 
frenzy, not one expression of ill-will or spite ever 
escaped his lips with regard to the man who was mis- 
called the fortunate possessor of this beautiful and 
innocent girl's affections : indeed it is evident from 
after results, that he never entertained any harsh 
sentiments or ill-will against the man who had usurped 
the place he aspired to in the affections of Mddle. 

. Against her he openly and frequently 

denounced signal vengeance, and every one that heard 
him rave, believed earnestly that the demon within 
the man instigated him to the commission of an 
atrocious deed, and that he really would, were oppor- 
tunity afforded him, carry out his dreadful threat ; and 
yet they let this maniac — this would-be murderer — so 
to say, go at large. The results were opportunity, and 
the availing of such opportunity for the commission of 
the foulest crime ever on record. 

Monsieur de W. seems to have been the only 
person, possibly from pity for the situation and disap- 
pointment of a man who may have served him faithfully 
for some years, who was blind to the fierce unquench- 



326 



ESCAPE FROM PRISON. 



able thirst for revenge which instigated the wretch to 
crime. It is true he was constrained to remove him to 
Beyrout, there to confine him temporarily to an apart- 
ment, intending at the first opportunity to ship the 
wretched maniac home to his own country; but these 
half measures were ineffectual, for with that keenness 
and knavery which almost invariably accompany 
every stage of insanity, the man managed so effectually 
to elude the watchfulness of his keepers, that by the 
time his absence from his prison was discovered, he had 
already gained two hours upon his pursuers. 

Great were the trepidation and alarm experienced 
by Monsieur de W. on this dreadful discovery ; and to 
make matters worse still, his own Cawasses and 
Janissaries were all absent on various official errands. 
In this dilemma he sent a hasty message to my father, 
imploring him without a second's delay to allow his 
constables to pursue the miscreant; this they did with 
all alacrity; but when they reached Oorneille every- 
thing was over — the tragedy had been transacted. The 
deed was done, and only the now half-witted broken- 
hearted lover survived to tell how and why it came to 
pass, that two dreadful corpses, rigid and stiff in death, 
lay stark upon the earth gazing up into that judgment 
hall where already they had both appeared — the mur- 
derer and the murdered. 

According to the unhappy lover's account, he and 
his future bride, blessed in each other's love and confi- 
dence, were alone conversing in a balcony that overhung 



A FEARFUL TRAGEDY. 



327 



the sublirnest prospect of nature. Cautiously and 
unheard, a third party had crept into the room ; and 
unheeded, unnoticed, became a spectator and auditor 
of all that passed. There is no saying how long he 
had remained in an attitude of intense and ardent 
admiration, fascinated by the attitude and voice of her 
whom he loved and hated, as birds are said to be by 
the venomous eyes of serpents. 

Suddenly her eye caught a shadow, and she turning 
sharply round, gazed with intensest horror on the 
intruder. The action was only momentary, but it was 
sufficient to break the spell: love and admiration 
vanished in a twinkling — deadly hate flashed over the 
bosom and subdued every other emotion — jealousy 
crushed the nature of — what shall I say? for even 
serpents are gentle to the tenderer sex — of a man — 
a human being. There must have been something 
fearful in the glaring eyes of the intruder, for the 
young girl intuitively shrunk beneath his gaze, and 
uttering a piercing shriek sprang forward, throwing her 
arms round her lover's neck for better protection. 
Too late! the room was filled with light and shook 
with a loud report ; one heart-piercing shriek told how 
well the villain had aimed. 

Through and through — -right through her heart the 
bullet had passed, and without a moan or sigh she 
fell dead in those arms which would fain have cherished 
and supported her even till the silvery crown of autumn 
should have graced their years upon earth, and by 



328 



A VICTIM TO JEALOUSY. 



excellence and virtue both might be thought to be ripe 
for a happier and future world. She was dead, and 
the murderer had fled ; but he only fled till so long as 
the same destructive weapon which had dealt out death 
to one so young, so fair, and innocent, could be primed 
again and ready to send his own blood-stained soul to 
a fearful reckoning. He shot himself, and so the 
tragedy ended. 

But before we drop the curtain upon this tragedy of 
real life, I may be permitted to say that the unhappy 

Mr. S only survived the shock to lose his intellect. 

He was no longer fitted for his duties at Jerusalem — 
no longer fitted for any duty upon earth ; for whether 
he closed his eyes at night or stared out into the sun- 
light there was one dismal vision always before them. 
The last fond suffering look of his young, his only too- 
much-adored affianced bride; such a thing was too 
powerful for the texture of the most callous, most 
ferocious heart. Sorrow chafed his day and night, till 
at last the final throb ceased to vibrate, and in less 
than three months after this terrible occurrence his 
lifeless body was cast into the sea, somewhere on his 
voyage home to his native country; making the third 
and perhaps most cruelly-used victim of that foul 
villain who was the personification of the demon 
jealousy upon earth. 

Not far from the scene where this tragedy was trans- 
acted there exists evidence of an extensive coal mine, 
but it also appears that the quality is indifferent, having 



DRUSE VILLAGES— IROff MINE. 



329 



been already worked and found to be of an inferior 
kind. Such is the report, but I am inclined to think 
that no proper care or attention can have been devoted 
to the investigation of this matter, as the natives have 
too much wood and charcoal, and are naturally too 
indolent to trouble themselves about such matters. 
Most probably it was during the Egyptian sway that the 
Europeans under Ibrahim Pasha first discovered this 
mine and sank shafts there. 

An hour and a half distant from Corneille is another 
summer retreat of the Bey rout Europeans, known by 
the name of Boukfaia; this also is a Druse village 
boasting of an Emir and his palace, with an apology for 
a bazaar. Not far from hence, near Mittaine, is an iron 
mine of inferior quality which is being ineffectually 
worked. 

In addition to the foregoing, the principal Druse 
villages on the Lebanon are Moushmoushi, Baiteer, 
Ammatour, Muktara, Halouet, Deir-il-Kamar, Bet-il- 
Deen, Backleen, K'flnebra, Ain Anoob, Aitat, Shouafat, 
B'hamdoon, Arayiah, K'farchima, and Mansourie, lying 
between Sidon and Beyrout, where the Druses are far 
more numerous. To the north-east of Beyrout are 
Brummana, Corneille, Mittaine, Shouair, Boukfaia, and 
Solima, and from amongst these all of any note have 
been already described. 



330 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

ANTI-LIBANUS — THE PEOPLE OF THE LEBANON — THE VILLAGE 
B'SHARI — TERRACES ON THE MOUNTAIN SIDES — METHOD OF 
CONSTRUCTING TERRACES — PROLIFIC NATURE OF THE SOIL — 
DRUSE VILLAGES— G'BEL IL-SHEIK — PESTILENTIAL MORASSES — 
CHARACTERISTIC OF THE DRUSES OF ANTI-LIBANUS — THE VIL- 
LAGE HASBEIA — THE PROCESS OF DYEING — A FRENCH OIL PRESS 
— VILLAGES— MINES — EFFECTS OF MOUNTAIN WARFARE. 

Know ye the land of the cedar and vine, 

Where the flowers ever blossom, the beams ever shine : 

Where the citron and olive are fairest of fruit, 
And the voice of the nightingale never is mute : 

' Tis the clime of the East, 'tis the land of the sun. 

Byron. 

Anti-Libanus, or that portion of the country inhabited 
exclusively by Maronites, Druses, and Ansyriis, is an 
extensive tract, properly speaking, of the most elevated 
in the whole of Northern Palestine. It is difficult to 
define with any precision the exact boundaries of that 
particular province, for there are even no defined limits 
of pashalic authority which can distinctly separate one 
portion from another, although it is generally under- 



ANTI-LIBANUS. 



331 



stood that every portion is subservient to the jurisdiction 
of the government of Damascus. The only tangible 
theory is to draw an imaginary line between these two 
vast ranges which extend parallel with the coast of 
Syria from behind Tripoli to within a few miles of the 
modern capital of Syria. In itself it perhaps comprises a 
district little inferior to any other portion of that 
highly productive and prolific land of promise; although 
the barren surface of the hills is less productive than 
those of the Lebanon Proper. Barely even yielding that 
vast supply of brushwood and other fuel which proves 
of such intrinsic value to the inhabitants of those parts, 
it nevertheless carries with it its own peculiar value ; 
for besides being interspersed with valleys of the best 
and purest soil, the more elevated portions constitute 
an immense reservoir for those countless streams which 
trickle down to every part of Syria, and which have in 
themselves been a happy theme of exultation and praise 
to that great naturalist, that prince of cultivators, the 
Psalmist David himself, in the words of the 104th 
Psalm : 

The trees of God without the care 

Or art of man with sap are fed ; 
The mountain cedar looks as fair, 

As those in royal gardens bred. 
His rains from heaven parch'd hills recruit, 

That soon transmit the liquid store, 
Till earth is burdened with her fruit, 

And nature's lap will hold no more. 

Beyond a doubt, the nearest approach that modern 



332 



THE PEOPLE OF THE LEBANON. 



authors can make to a description of this magnificent 
country, is to adhere rigidly to the description of 
those inspired historians who wrote under the imme- 
diate influence of the benevolence and mercy of God in 
a country at that time basking under the peculiar 
influence of merciful patronage and love. Lebanon 
was — Lebanon continues to be, in the most compre- 
hensive term — meaning thereby every portion of that 
mountainous district — a country peculiar in its pos- 
session of everything that is beautiful in the creation, 
yet, strange to say, even from the earliest records that 
we are possessed of, a country inhabited by an ungra- 
cious people, even from the days before the favoured 
Israelites were permitted to fix their homes here, and 
to prove in every action a rebellious and ungrateful 
people — one spurning the evident manifestations of 
Providence, and disregarding those frequent warnings 
that would have gathered them, in the words of Isaiah, 
as a hen gathers her brood under her wings ; so also 
are these fairest sites to-day allotted to men peculiarly 
distinguished in their reversion of those doctrines 
which were inculcated either by the primitive Moses, or 
in the more enlightened theory of the Messiah, whether 
Druse or Maronite, or Ansyri. They are possessed of 
features as strikingly repulsive as the country is 
superb which they are mercifully permitted to inhabit. 

However, it is no further our duty at the present 
moment, than to endeavour to illustrate the various 
towns and villages which constitute the region of the 



THE VILLAGE B'SHARI. 



333 



Anti-Libanus. The first of any note or importance 
towards the Tripoli limits is a village, well known to 
most Oriental travellers from its proximity to the 
cedars of Lebanon, containing about one hundred and 
twenty houses. B'shari overhangs the most romantic 
spots on the banks of the river Kaddisa, surrounded by 
the most plentiful and luxuriant foliage, and possessed 
of fascinating and picturesque appearance. The village 
is surrounded by fruit-trees, vineyards, mulberry plan- 
tations, extensive fields of well-cultivated maize, 
besides other grain, all which speak highly for the 
natural industry of the people ; because, although the 
soil be extremely fertile, the situations of the mountain 
sides are so extremely inconvenient, that it can be 
barely said that there exists a single spot of level 
ground which exceeds twenty feet by thirty. The 
unevenness of the ground must have been a source of 
great anxiety and annoyance to the original settlers in 
this village, who, with praiseworthy perseverance, pro- 
jected and carried out a plan which, at first, seemed to 
oppose insurmountable obstacles, but the successful 
termination of which has crowned all their efforts with 
a rich reward. 

Finding that the earth was naturally productive, and 
that the resources for irrigation were very extensive 
indeed, they were advised by some Italian monks to 
adopt the at once elegant and useful system of laying 
the mountain side out into terraces; but even here an 
obstacle presented itself, which prevented the perfect 



334 TERRACES ON THE MOUNTAIN SIDES. 

organisation of their schemes. The sides of the 
mountains themselves consisted of two very different 
soils — the one harder, of rocky texture, which traversed 
the hill side perpendicularly, and which consequently 
prevented the natives from laying out their horizontal 
terraces to a further extent than was admissible 
in the space between the harder strata. It thus 
resulted that they could barely, on any part of the 
mountain side, excavate a terrace broader, in its greatest 
width, than twenty feet, while the depth or length of 
those terraces varied according to the position they 
occupied from the top to the base of the hill-side, — those 
lowest being narrowest in breadth, though greatest in 
width, whilst those highest up the mountain were 
exceedingly narrow, but admitted of great depth; so 
that when all these excavations or terraces had been 
prepared, the mountain side presented more the appear- 
ance of a gigantic bee-hive than anything to which 
we could compare it. 

But, even this accomplished, only the first step of a 
gigantic labour has been effected in countries like 
these, where the winter fall of rain is excessively 
heavy, and where, in early spring, the torrents from 
the thawing snow dashed down in impetuous torrents, 
carrying everything before them, and even rooting up 
gigantic trees in their course. To impede the devas- 
tation and havoc that would inevitably be committed 
by these, and to prevent their again filling up the 
excavations with dirt and rubbish, or washing away the 



METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING TERRACES. 



335 



ledges of the terraces, it was fouDd expedient to 
construct on the loftiest height a powerful stone 
barrier, from which, by means of simple aqueducts, 
the greater mass of water was permitted to rush 
unimpeded over those portions of the mountain where 
the naturally hard soil had successfully opposed the 
efforts of the people, and where it in no way interfered 
with the terraces themselves. 

This was not the only guarantee sufficient to 
procure to the natives a prospect of cultivating these 
parts, with any hopes of reaping a harvest: for the 
heavy rains of themselves fell with sufficient force to 
wash away the ledges of the terraces, and accumu- 
lating, formed local reservoirs, which entirely under- 
mined the harder surface of the excavations, and 
forcing an outlet, washed away all the loose and better 
soil. It was, consequently, indispensable that some 
remedy should be adopted, to guard against this 
infallible evil, or else, as surely as the season came, 
they might expect to find a whole summer's toil and 
labour destroyed by a single night of heavy rain. 

To this intent, therefore, each separate excavation or 

terrace was bordered round with a layer of hard rough 

stones, whilst with regular masonry the ledges of each 

terrace were built up and securely wailed in to the 

heidit of two or more feet above the surface of their 
<_/ 

respective levels, leaving small apertures at either 
extremity to admit of any surplus water draining itself 
off. 



336 



PROLIFIC NATURE OF THE SOIL. 



This work completed, the whole side of an apparently 
barren and heretofore inaccessible mountain was ready 
prepared for the purposes of cultivation, and herein, by 
care and assiduity, the peasant succeeded in rearing 
luxuriant crops, as also some of the finest fruit trees in 
those parts. Nor was utility the only object attained, 
for while peaches, pomegranates, apricots, figs, and other 
fruit grow to perfection in these terraces, their appear- 
ance is singularly diversified and beautified by alternate 
plots, some growing almost perpendicularly up the sides 
of the terraces, of verdant wheat crops and other 
cultivated grain. 

Meantime they had not neglected the more sterile 
and rocky strata of the hill side, which served as capital 
natural boundaries between the estates of various 
villagers. It was found that this soil, though unpro- 
ductive in anything else, would admit of the cultivation 
of the vine and some of the more hardy species of the 
fig and mulberry : the consequence was that they wer^ 
immediately converted into Koorms, or mountain vine- 
yards, and the grapes produced by these proved of a 
remarkably fine quality ; so that in point of fact every 
available inch of ground is covered with luxuriant 
cultivation, and the very sources which serve to carry 
off superfluous water in the winter, facilitate the 
natives in irrigating their gardens during the sultry 
months of June, July, and August. 

As a further proof of the natural industry of 
the natives of this village, it may be stated that 



DRUSE VILLAGES — G'BEL IL-SHEIK. 337 



they rear a considerable number of silkworms, which 
produce a very fair quantity of common silk, 
besides manufacturing a species of cotton shawl 
very much in vogue among the natives of Syria, who 
use them for winter girdles. They have also in .some 
of the surrounding plains extensive tobacco planta- 
tions, from which Tripoli and some of the surrounding 
towns draw their principal supply. Though not 
actually inhabited by Druses, B'shari is strictly included 
in the Druse district, and is subservient to their Emir. 

The next place of note that is worthy of any record 
is the Druse village of Souyre in the Anti-Libanus, 
which is exclusively inhabited by Druses, who though 
of scant population and pastoral habits, contribute their 
iota both towards the revenues of their Emir and the 
strength of their tribe. Passing through the valley of 
Anti-Libanus we come to the mountain called G'bel 
Il-Sheik, supposed to be the highest mountain in these 
parts, its summit being perpetually covered with snow, 
and which is situated due west from Damascus, being 
under the sway of the Druse Emir at Eashia, another 
unimportant Druse village, an hour and a half distant 
from one of more consideration called Haimte. The 
most striking feature of this latter village is the fact 
that its Druse inhabitants appear strictly to adhere to 
the tenets of the Mohametan law, being scrupulous in 
their attendance to rites and ceremonials, and governed 
by a Turkish Dervish conjointly with their own pecu- 
liar Sheik. The people of this village are principally 

z 



338 



VILLAGES —PESTILENTIAL MORASSES. 



employed in the rougher cultivation of the soil, growing- 
coarser kinds of grain and tending large flocks of goats, 
from the milk of which they manufacture a not very 
palatable cheese. Most of them derive their origin 
from the village of Rash i a, whilst several of them are 
intermarried with the inhabitants of Beri and Rafit, 
two insignificant villages which are strictly pastoral. 

At about an hour distant from Ilaimte, situated to 
the left of a beacon track, are Denibi and Mimis ; whilst 
further on, and to the right, is Sefa; all three Druse 
villages, but situated in a country very slightly culti- 
vated, and where everything bears evidence that were 
it not for the great love of freedom and independence, 
few men would submit to dwell amongst such an utter 
desolation as surrounds them, and encircled as they are 
during winter by almost impenetrable snow, and in 
summer time by pestilential morasses, which emit 
aguish exhalations during the fiercer heats. But it is 
a remarkable fact that the baneful influences of the 
unhealthy soil they inhabit are never indelibly impressed 
upon the features and frames of the Druses of these 
parts; so much so, that they are with facility distin- 
guished from those inhabiting the more salubrious 
Lebanon, by their robust appearance. 

Not but that these latter are in common with all this 
race a remarkably fine and robust people ; but they are 
naturally so vigorous that their constitutions repel the 
insidious and baneful attacks of the atmosphere ; so that 
they are barely subjected to inconvenience, where other 



CHARACTERISTIC OF THE DRUSES OF ANTI-LIBANUS. 339 

races of human beings could hardly exist. This is 
always more forcibly prominent when these natives are 
brought into comparison with their brethren inhabiting 
those parts in the vicinity of Beyrout and Sidon. Whilst 
the former present to the spectator the perfect embo- 
diment of robust health, gigantic strength, and an iron 
constitution, the latter, though indisputably equally 
fine men, with all the appearance of strength and 
sinewy texture, lack that ruddy complexion which is 
such a distinguishing mark amongst the people of the 
Anti-Libanus. Moreover there is a peculiarity in the 
hair as well as in the complexion, the people of Anti- 
Libanus having frequently lighter-coloured hair, besides 
possessing an uncommonly fierce and independent mien, 
which at once envelopes them with an aspect of a wild, 
free, predatory people, such as might be expected to be 
met with in the more remote parts of the highlands of 
Scotland ; whilst the Druses of the Lebanon carry about 
with them an air of refinement and appearance of 
gentility which at once classifies them as the better and 
more enlightened people of that race. 

Three hours further on than the villages inhabited 
by these people, on whose appearance we have so 
lengthily dilated, and in a direct course south-west by 
west, we pass Ain Ephjer; and after riding two hours 
over a desolate country, whose rocky surface admits of 
little or no cultivation, we pass over the bridge erected 
over the river Hasbeia, not far from its sources; and 
another hour of toil and scrambling brings us to the 

z 2 



340 



THE VILLAGE HASBETA. 



village named after the river, which is situated on the 
top of a mountain of no considerable elevation, but 
which may be almost ranked as a town, from the fact 
of its containing nearly eight hundred houses, and 
being the residence, at some seasons of the year, of the 
Greek patriarch of Damascus; besides being governed 
by a Druse Emir, who is in some way subject to the 
authority of the Pasha of Damascus for the time being. 
Its inhabitants are of mixed creeds, but by far the 
greater proportion are Druses, to whom also the 
wealthiest parts of this district belong. The chief 
occupation of the natives appears to be that of dyeing 
cotton cloths, which are also here manufactured, and 
which are of that ordinary quality so commonly used 
by the peasants of Syria : one of these dye-houses in 
particular is very extensive, and gives occupation for 
more than a third of the people engaged in this trade. 

The process employed in dyeing these cloths is 
simple and primitive in the extreme. On the out- 
skirts of the village are extensive ranges of large sized 
copper cauldrons placed upon temporary furnaces, 
which, being built of brick and mortar, admit of the 
retention of very great heat; and vast quantities of 
fuel, which is luckily plentiful in the neighbourhood, 
are consumed for heating these coppers. The dye itself 
is constituted of that coarser indigo imported into 
Syria, mixed with blue gall nuts, the produce of the 
country round Aleppo, where these nuts grow in 
abundance and to perfection, and a small quantity 



THE PROCESS OF DYEING. 



341 



of muriatic acid. The whole matter is then dissolved 
in boiling water, and the cloth, being thrown in, 
is permitted to remain, only being turned over now 
and then, till the water in the boiler cools sufficiently 
for a man to insert his hand and draw the dyed cloth 
out. The next process is that of gently wringing the 
dyed material, never using too much force lest the 
colour should not have perfectly saturated the matter. 
It is after this that the long building erected 
by the dyers is made use of; in it the wet cloths 
are suspended to dry, protected so far as the building 
will admit, from the vast quantities of sand and 
other matter which would necessarily adhere to it. 

When the cloth is dry, it is taken down again and 
subjected to the same process, or not, according to the 
lighter or deeper tinge of blue which the dyer wishes 
to impart; in any case, the cloth has eventually 
to undergo a thorough washing, for which purpose 
they resort to the banks of the river, close at hand, 
and subject piece after piece to the operation of 
being thoroughly wetted and well beaten against 
the smooth hard surface of rocky slabs. This detaches 
any minute particles that may have adhered to the 
damp cloth, and it furthermore tests the efficacy of the 
dyeing material used. If the process has been successful, 
the cloth loses very little colour ; if on the contrary, 
the material used has not been properly mixed, then 
the whole stream for miles down assumes a beautiful 
ultramarine colour, and the cloth has to be re- dyed. 



342 



A FRENCH OIL PRESS. 



From the nature of their avocations, the natives of 
Hasbeia are the dirtiest-looking people imaginable, 
with hands and feet perpetually covered with indigo, 
and with their faces smeared over with blotches of 
various shades. The calling is said to be the most 
unhealthy conceivable, owing to the various gases the 
men are continually exposed to. This may be very 
pernicious in countries where dyers are compelled to 
follow up their avocation in close and confined rooms ; 
but here, where the everyday work is done in the open 
air, the men experience no inconvenience : on the con- 
trary, they are as a body a robust, healthy people. 

Many of the Druses have considerable olive planta- 
tions in this district, which formerly were manufactured 
into the ordinary quality of oil used by the natives. 
Now, however, that a French firm has established an oil 
press at Tripoli, these people, in common with the 
natives of many of the other villages, prefer selling 
their crops to them in lieu of converting their olives 
into oil. The Emir occupies a well-built castle, erected 
purposely to answer the ends of a stronghold for the 
Druse party during any outbreaks or disturbances in 
these parts. 

There are not less than twenty -three considerable 
villages dependent upon this place. These are called 
Banias, Rashit-il-Fackar, Sheba, Mirie, Kefar, Kankabi, 
Hebber, Wahshdal, Zooya, Ain Tinti, Ain Sharafi, Ain 
ahmet-Banias, Ain Ania, Ain Feedi; and besides these, 
Shouwa, Karrib4 Zoura, Jubita, K^far-Hammam, Feredes, 



VILLAGES — MPS, 343 

Bourkush, Rahle, and KTernaur. The whole of this 
extensive district, though presenting a dreary and sterile 
feature, is in reality, perhaps, the wealthiest portion 
that can be named as belonging to the Druse terri- 
tory. There are, in fact, probably mines of immense 
wealth concealed under the rougher strata of the surface, 
the ground being strongly impregnated with iron, and 
yielding abundance of other metal, which has never 
been properly investigated, with large veins of bitumen, 
and every appearance of the neighbourhood having 
been once subjected, probably many years since, to the 
mining skill of the people that possessed this country. 
To this day there remain several deep shafts sunk in 
the neighbourhood, but long since deserted, and which 
are overgrown with bushes and other verdure, present- 
ing dangerous pit-falls for the incautious wayfarer. 

After Hasbeia, and close to the village of Banks, 
which is one of those we enumerated as dependent 
upon it, is the village Medjal, situated on a table-land 
at the summit of a mountain of some considerable eleva- 
tion, and inhabited principally by Druses, the proportion 
of Christian families being only as one to a hundred. 
The natives of this village are all expert huntsmen, the 
neighbourhood affording them ample occupation for 
their skill and courage, for here during the intenser 
cold of the winter season, bears, wolves, and even 
tigers abound, whilst stags are to be very frequently 
encountered. 

The Druses of this village, in common with most 



344 



EFFECTS OF MOUNTAIN WARFARE. 



of those inhabiting the country about the neighbour- 
hood of Damascus, pretend to be rigid disciples of the 
Mohametan faith, observing the Ramazan with scrupu- 
lous attention. But this cannot be regarded as affording 
any clue to their real profession of faith, as some of 
these very people have been known even to profess 
Christianity so far as to employ the services of a Latin 
monk, whilst at the same time upon every occasion of 
their visiting Damascus they attended the mosques 
there publicly. The village of Kafoura is the last of 
any importance amongst those belonging to the Druses 
in the Anti-Libanus. 

As a general fact it may be stated that during the 
frequent disturbances amongst these people no perfect 
estimate can with correctness be obtained relative to 
the size or population of their villages, or indeed of the 
exact site that these may occupy, from one year to 
another. Such is the mutable state of their affairs, that 
where we may to-day encounter apparently large and 
well-inhabited villages, with country presenting every 
appearance of fertility and cultivation, a year hence the 
same spot may present a perfect desolation, with nothing 
but the crumbling ruins and smouldering ashes to 
indicate the once residence of man, and bearing 
testimony to the ruthless and destructive effects of the 
wild mountain warfare carried on in these parts, when 
houses and vineyards, convents and palaces, are alike 
swept away by the devouring flames ignited by those 
parties who for the time being are victorious. 



345 



CHAPTER XXV. 

THE HOURAN — KANOUT — ANCIENT MENTION OF THE HOURAN — THE 
HOURAN THE GRANARY OF STRIA— RUINS OF A TEMPLE — EZRA 

— MILLSTONES — DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDINGS — RUINS — 
STONE DOORS— SCARCITY OF WATER — JEALOUSY OF THE NATIVES 

— AN ANCIENT AQUEDUCT — SUPERSTITIONS OF THE NATIVES — 
BURIED TREASURES — THE COUNTRY OF IDUMEA. 

" And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from 
Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel by Jordan, 
from the border unto the east side." — Ezekiel xlvii. 18. 

Taking the mountains of Kelb Houran as a central 
starting point for the purpose of facilitating local 
description and position, we shall commence our tour 
in the Houran by a brief description of those villages 
situated between this point and Damascus on a nearly 
straight line following the banks of the river Kanout. 

First in this list is the ruined city of Kanout, 
situated upon a declivity on the bank of the deep 
stream which flows through the midst of the town with 
steep banks, propped up by walls in several places. The 
approach to these ruins is through a forest of stunted 
oaks and other trees with only partially cultivated 
fields. To the south-west of the town is the copious 



346 



THE HOURAN— KANOUT. 



spring, and approaching it from this position, the first 
thing that attracts the attention of the wayfarer is a 
number of high columns upon a terrace at some dis- 
tance from the town itself. These, on closer inspection, 
are found to be very imperfect, but they extend over a 
space of nearly one hundred and twenty feet in length 
by sixty in breadth. There were originally six columns 
on one side and seven on the other, but several of 
them have already fallen to their foundation, and each 
year diminishes their original number; still there is 
sufficient remnant to testify that great skill and art, as 
well as beauty and architecture, were originally dis- 
played in their erection. The capitals are elegant and 
well finished, and the pedestals upwards of five feet 
high. 

The former town admitted of two distinct divisions, 
the upper or principal, and the lower or more insignifi- 
cant quarter; and wild oaks having sprung up among 
this part entirely secludes its ruins from the inquisitive 
eye of the antiquary. Inscriptions have been found 
here and copied by former travellers, and the remnants 
testify to the ruin having once the claim of being 
classified as a distinguished city, though it is difficult 
to calculate at how distant a date. The supposed 
circuit and extent of this ancient city have been 
calculated to be between two and three miles; and 
standing by the spring, the traveller may command 
an extensive and uninterrupted view of the beautiful 
plains of the Houran, bounded on the opposite 



ANCIENT MENTION OF THE HOURAN. 347 

side by the snow-capped mountain of the Haish. 
Before entering further into the plains of the Houran, 
we may be permitted to digress for a few minutes 
from the immediate subject under consideration to 
recapitulate the leading incidents in connection with 
its history. 

So far back as the year 574 b. c, the prophet 
Ezekiel refers to these fertile plains in the vision 
respecting the borders of the land, (xlvii. 16-19,) 
" Hazar-hatticon, which is by the coast of Houran." . . . 
" And the east side ye shall measure from Houran 
and from Damascus." It is, therefore, evident that 
even at that period those countries, to the south of 
Damascus, were held in considerable estimation by 
those early and fortunate possessors who had emi- 
grated from a state of serfdom and bondage to find 
themselves led on by an invincible hand to the 
conquest of the fairest and most fertile countries 
in the world. Indeed, the whole plains and the 
rocky wilderness to the southward of Damascus 
collectively, were the first fruits reaped by the dis- 
obedient Israelites after their forty years 1 sufferings 
and wanderings in the wilderness. 

Even before the subjugation of the land of Canaan, 
the allotment to the favoured tribes had taken 
place ; and that blessing which extended itself all 
over the land of promise here, even up to the 
present day, is developed in the unbounded fertility 
of the plains. Under the Roman sway the whole of 



348 THE HOURAN THE GRANARY OF SYRIA. 

the Houran, distinguished by them as Persea, was 
divided into six cantons, the most northern of which 
was that of Abilene, between Lebanon and the Anti- 
Libanus. The whole of this district, though offering 
no very insuperable obstacles, has been seldom satis- 
factorily traversed by European travellers, though it is 
acknowledged by such bold and enterprising men as 
undertook this circuit at a period when the uncivilised 
state of Turkey rendered travelling a very difficult 
and dangerous affair, to be literally teeming with the 
most interesting ruins and remains. 

To the present day the Houran is the main prop of 
the sea-coast of Syria as regards the staple supply of 
grain, both for exportation, as well as for the consump- 
tion of the towns and villages along the sea-board. The 
surface of the country is generally undulating, whilst 
almost every prominent position is occupied by Roman 
ruins, now patched up, and serving as the habitation 
of the villagers. 

Continuing from Kanout, we come to the village of 
Saleem, at the entrance to which are some very hand- 
some ruins of an oblong shape, whilst the whole area 
of the village is filled up with dilapidated fragments of 
what may have once constituted a magnificent city. 
The only vegetation of any kind to be here encoun- 
tered is a few stray tobacco plantations ; and the poor 
people that reside here, who are entirely Druse fami- 
lies, only consent to remain in this exile to escape 
from the more oppressive taxation of the sheiks owning 



RUINS OF A TEMPLE. 



349 



the better cultivated lands. This village is situated 
upon a bank of the river which flows from Kanout ; 
and, amongst other ruins, it contains the fragments of 
what was once, beyond a doubt, a beautiful and costly 
temple, though small in proportion. But all of the 
beautiful Corinthian columns have been shaken to the 
ground by the violent shocks of earthquake which so 
oftentimes pervade this latitude ; and though the ruins 
occupy upwards of a mile in circumference, they have 
been so utterly devastated by the ruthless hand of this 
destroyer, that they in reality constitute little better 
than a heap of rubbish. 

Travelling along the banks of the river, we pass 
Deir-il-Leban, an inconsiderable heap of ruins ; whilst 
further on, on the left bank, is Kafar-il-Locha. Upon 
a low hill, still to the right bank, is Deir-il-Ahkwat, 
or the Brother's Monastery, now also an uninhabited, 
crumbling mass of ruins ; next to this, Nejran, in 
which are several ancient buildings inhabited by 
Druses ; and continuing on the right bank of the 
river, we come to Baara, a village with several mills, 
which are worked by the force of the torrent during 
the winter season. One hour further on, but on the 
opposite side, is Kurbet Hariry, a village under the 
control of the sheik of Ezra ; whilst, two miles further 
on, still bordering on the stony district of the Ledja, is 
Bousa. 

At the further extremity of this mountain torrent, 
and where its feeble waters exhaust themselves, is 



350 



EZRA — MILLSTONES. 



Ezra, a very considerable town both as concerns its 
present and its former condition. The ruins of Ezra 
are estimated to occupy a circumference of upwards of 
three miles in extent ; it is now one of the principal 
villages of the Houran, containing several Druse families 
amongst its mixed population. Lying within the pre- 
cincts of the Ledja, within a short distance of the 
arable ground, it is entirely dependent for its supply 
of water, excepting in the depths of winter, upon local 
cisterns. Its inhabitants are a very industrious people ; 
but the most remarkable article manufactured in this 
town are those millstones so indispensable to all house- 
holds all over Syria : blocks for forming these are 
brought from the stony interior, and here hewn and 
shaped by native artizans. These millstones form an 
article of export commerce carried hence even as far 
as Aleppo, and varying in price from fifteen to sixty 
piastres, according to their size, being preferred to all 
others on account of the hardness of the stone from 
which they are manufactured, which stone is only 
to be met with in the Ledja. 

In addition to this article of industry, the people 
of Ezra manufacture rough cotton stuffs, much used 
by the natives of the Houran. 

The inhabitants continue to occupy those massive 
and solid edifices which have stood here through 
centuries of time, in defiance of the most merciless 
earthquakes; and the general form of the buildings 
is that principally adapted for the usages of people 



DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDINGS. 



351 



inhabiting a hot and sultry country. Each dwelling- 
is entered by an insignificant entrance, easily blocked 
up in case of assault or invasion, but which conducts 
one into a square yard, round which are the apart- 
ments. The entrances to these apartments are also 
extremely low ; the whole building constituting a 
species of fortification, within which, the court-yard 
door being secured, the inmates of the house are safe 
from molestation, as also secure from the prying of 
the inquisitive. 

Here, under the open canopy of heaven, during the 
most sultry season of the year, the family congregate 
at nightfall, to enjoy their frugal repast, to relish their 
pipes, to sing their wild ditties ; or when exhausted, 
spreading out their mats, repose upon them, refreshed 
by the copious and cooling dews of heaven, whilst 
during the heat of the day, these very mats, and other 
material which serve as bedding for the night, are 
suspended over head in the courtyard, so as to exclude 
the fierce rays of the sun, at the same time that they 
are being thoroughly aired and purified for nocturnal 
use. 

Barred in with all his family, one solitary inhabitant 
might, from the peculiar construction of his dwelling, 
set at defiance twenty invaders, by retreating as neces- 
sity obliged him, first from the courtyard into one of 
the principal chambers, and so from this one into all 
the others, till he should emerge again at the opposite 
side, to the room where he took refuge. 



352 



RUINS — STONE DOORS. 



All the houses are built upon arched foundations, 
which, in a great measure, accounts for the fact of 
their having resisted the most turbulent subterranean 
shocks, which spread devastation through many villages 
and towns in the same latitude. 

A very remarkable feature in connection with the 
great antiquity of this place, is the singular fact of 
several of the buildings possessing doors hewn out 
of the solid piece of stone, which work upon hinges 
of the same material, and which must assist, when 
properly closed, in more effectually excluding the heat, 
than any other material which could be used for such 
a purpose. 

Amongst the ruins abounding in the neighbourhood, 
is a remarkable range to the south-east of the town, 
known to the natives under the singular appellation of 
Sarayat Malek-il-Asfar, or Palace of the Yellow King, 
an imaginary potentate, whom Burkhardt considers 
synonymous with the Emperor of Russia, though, strange 
to say, of late years, and since that country has been 
unfortunately subjected to casual visitations of that 
dreadful scourge, the cholera, the natives have distin- 
guished this epidemic as the Hawa-il-Asfar, or the 
Yellow Wind, which is a singular coincidence at the 
present moment, when the so-called yellow Emperor 
has become even a greater scourge to the countries of 
the earth than his namesake, the horrible Yellow Wind. 

There is a Greek convent and church at Ezra, 
besides an edifice dedicated to that favourite Greek 



SCARCITY OF WATER. 



353 



patron saint, St. George. Water is so scarce in tins 
part, that the inhabitants are entirely dependent upon 
the not long duration of the summer months ; other- 
wise the j are compelled to quit the place, bag, baggage, 
and all; and so little are they troubled with furniture, 
or other household decorations, that when this is the 
case, they seldom return again to the place they have 
quitted, generally searching for some spot where the 
supply of water is more copious. Bat there is an 
evident display of inertness on the part of the inha- 
bitants, in not providing a sufficient number of 
reservoirs, which might easily, with little trouble and 
no expense, be erected amongst the great number of 
ruins which are uninhabited in these parts; so care- 
less, however, are they, so unwilling to labour, that 
though their flocks have frequently to wait until 
midnight before their turn can possibly arrive for being 
served with water, they prefer this inconvenience to 
the trouble of preparing more receptacles. 

With Ezra terminates our tour along the banks of 
the Wady Kanout. Retracing our steps, we make a 
fresh starting point from the village of Saleem, whence, 
proceeding nearly N.E., we reach the village of Mor- 
douck, famous only on account of its abundant supply 
of water, being situated at a considerable elevation 
upon the plains of the G'bel Houran. One hour and 
a half further to the eastward, is Telshouba, the seat 
of some of the principal Druse Sheiks. The village is 
beautifully situated at the foot of one of the neighbour- 

2 A 



354 



JEALOUSY OF THE NATIVES. 



ing mountains, and from the amazing quantity of ruins 
which surround it, one is inclined to believe that it 
was once an opulent and populous mart, much resorted 
to by the neighbouring townspeople. It is said ori- 
ginally to have contained eight principal gates of 
entrance, a greater proportion than many of the 
leading cities of the East, at the present day, can 
boast of. 

According to some ancient travellers, the Druses 
inhabiting this part enjoy a very dubious notoriety for 
inhospitality, or rather, are inimical to the encroach- 
ments of any people, saving those of their own peculiar 
sect ; and have, on more than one occasion, compelled 
travellers to relinquish their researches, and retire 
from the field of investigation. This compulsion arises, 
beyond a doubt, from the peculiar notions entertained 
by the people in general, that Europeans possess a 
talisman, by means of which they are facilitated in 
discovering and exhuming long-hidden treasures. 

It is therefore with an eye of exceeding jealousy that 
they watch over the proceedings of antiquity hunters, 
considering, beyond a doubt, that any man who 
would pause to inspect a crumbling mass of ruins, 
or any old desolate building, must have a more intrinsic 
excitement thereto than the simple love of research. 
They cannot possibly conceive that the history of 
defunct people and cities can be really possessed of 
such great charms for the lovers of antiquity. 

One of the most remarkable ruins in the neighbour- 



AN AXCIEXT AQUEDUCT. 



355 



hood of Telshouba is the remains of a very ancient 
aqueduct, which in former years supplied the town 
with water ; some of the arches are remaining, reaching 
to a height of nearly forty feet, and giving the casual 
spectator a capital conception of what might be pro- 
duced by the formation of a railway to communi- 
cate with the most distant parts of Caramania and 
Mesopotamia. At the termination of this aqueduct is 
a massive structure, supposed originally to have consti- 
tuted a reservoir for the supply, not only of the town 
itself, but of all the surrounding villages. Like Ezra, 
many of the doors are composed of massive stone, and 
the inhabitants fabricate cotton cloths for the manu- 
facturing of coarse shirts, but their fabrics are of a very 
inferior quality. 

Passing some inconsiderable villages, we come to the 
last place of any importance, Im-il-Zeitoun, inhabited by 
between thirty-five and forty -five families. Here, again, 
travellers find cause of complaint owing to the same 
absurd notions regarding hidden treasure, which the 
people invariably imagine that the traveller has come 
to exhume. Indefatigable might be the researches of 
any antiquity hunter amongst the ruins and walls of 
this desolate old place. Syriac and Grecian hierogly- 
phics cover every portion of yet undilapidated walls with 
superstitious peculiarities singularly their own. The 
natives of this village have peculiar objections, and pre- 
sent insurmountable obstacles to the investigations of 
modern European travellers. 

2 a 2 



356 



SUPERSTITIONS OF THE NATIVES. 



Always superstitious and suspicious of the encroach- 
ments of any foreigners, from the days of that unas- 
suming yet hardy adventurer Burkhardt, they have 
invariably resisted the quiet inquisitiveness of men of 
intellectual capabilities. They have foolishly imagined 
that the travellers had greater instigation than the 
satisfaction of a personal curiosity in prosecuting their 
researches; they found it remarkable that men prover- 
bially possessed of intellect and understanding, should, 
with such disregard to the superstitions of the natives 
of the land, disinter monuments and treasures of 
bygone centuries for the simple sake of adding to the 
information or advancement of civilisation. No such 
notion could ever be practicable to a people whose 
intrinsic valuation of every good afforded by creation 
rested, and that wholly, upon how much or how little 
personal, and not mental, benefit might be derived from 
its acquisition. 

Those illustrious strangers, who under the guise of a 
barbarism familiar to themselves, risked their comforts 
and ventured their lives for the express purpose of dis- 
interring old and valuable records relative to a country, 
if not a people, familiar to all educated Europe, from 
the figure they cut in the annals of the world's history 
before such an epoch as what is called modern civilisa- 
tion existed, before the western and northern powers 
had risen into any significance; these venturesome 
travellers experienced every impediment which bar- 
barism could present as a stumbling block to their 



BURIED TREASURES. 



357 



progress, or to the advancement of those discoveries 
which might materially assist in the furtherance of our 
geographical and other attainments; even to the 
present day such detriment exists. Learned and 
inquisitive travellers who have ventured to penetrate 
into these parts, besides the imminent peril they 
incurred from the inhospitality of most inhospitable 
people, found an invariable check to the furtherance 
of their projects from a superstitious indifference of 
the natives of these parts to the exhumation of any 
trifling stone or monument which might have con- 
tributed, through the learning of those attempting their 
investigation, to universal information. 

It is a strange theory, yet one undoubtedly based 
upon some ancient but substantial evidence, that every 
peculiar stone or rock marked by inscription or device, 
or in any way inviting the attention of the stranger, 
was there placed as a record of buried treasures. 
There is no reason to doubt that, in a country so often 
subjected to sudden commotions, people were in the 
practice of interring treasures and other property which 
did not admit of being transported or removed in the 
moment of sudden exigency; and consequently, even 
down to the present hour, these people are particularly 
jealous of any excavations which the natural researches 
of science may give rise to, but which they falsely 
attribute to motives of self-interest. 

What is a more striking incident than everything 
else, in connection with the obstacles continually to 



358 



THE COUNTRY OF IDUMEA. 



be encountered in travelling over or investigating the 
shores of this country, is the indubitable fact of its 
carrying with it, even to the present moment, unmis- 
takeable symptoms of the whole land labouring under 
the effects of that terrible curse, already alluded to, 
which has been cast like a dreadful pall over the whole 
country of Idumea; because, amongst other fearful 
assertions recorded against this part, it was clearly 
understood that no foot should successfully traverse, no 
eye investigate the fearful mysteries of the interior 
economy of a land condemned to perpetual desolation 
and barrenness, through the insubordination and wicked- 
ness of the thankless people into whose hands it was 
originally consigned, as one of the most fertile provinces 
of a land then teeming with produce. 



359 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE ORIGIN OF THE DRUSES — THE DRUSES AND THE HIVITES — ■ 
COMPARISON BETWEEN THE DRUSES AND THE HIVITES — 
IBRAHIM PASHA — COURAGE OF IBRAHIM PASHA — THE DRUSES 
AND THE OTTOMAN GOVERNMENT — THE COUNTRY ROUND 
JERUSALEM — CHARACTER OF THE DRUSES — THE DRUSE CREED. 

" Now these are the nations which the Lord left, to prove Israel by 
them — namely, the Canaanites, Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt 
in Mount Lebanon." — Judges iii. 1, 3. 

In the preceding chapters, I have given a brief 
historical sketch of the Druses, and carried the reader 
with me through their romantic and picturesque 
country, stopping to describe all that is most worthy 
of observation, and likely to engage the interest, in 
every town and village. I shall now conclude my 
work upon these very remarkable mountaineers, with 
a few speculations as to their possible origin, and 
with some final observations upon their creed, or form 
of religious belief, upon their akals, or priests, upon 
their practice of medicine, and upon sundry other 
matters relating to their social customs and pecu- 
liarities. 



360 



THE ORIGIN OF THE DRUSES. 



It has often perplexed the historical investigator, to 
trace the parent-stock from which the Druses have 
descended. The earliest date which I have mentioned 
in relation to circumstances of Druse history, is the 
year 1517. That they peopled the mountains of the 
Lebanon prior to that time, is indeed known; but 
beyond the bald fact of the knowledge of their exist- 
ence there, all completer information respecting them 
is shrouded in the mists of legend and tradition. Still 
if we compare certain passages in the sacred narrative 
of Biblical history with subsequent events, and the 
records of modern time, we may perhaps find some rays 
of light to guide our path, in the obscurity which 
hangs over the early career of the Druses. 

Looking at the known history of this interesting 
people, there is one salient fact which will not fail to 
impress every observer ; and it is that, throughout all 
periods of the Islam government, no people subject to 
their dominion has, on the whole, experienced so much 
toleration at their hands as the Druses. While 
Christian sects were being persecuted by different 
Ottoman commanders, with the most merciless seve- 
rity — flame and sword being their habitual portion — 
this happy, courageous, and free people seem to have 
maintained a peculiar and exceptional immunity. In 
a great measure, they owed this result, no doubt, to 
their power to withstand the Turkish arms, to their 
heroic bravery, and their unextinguishable patriotism. 

Now, if we glance back into the past, we find that 



THE DRUSES AND THE HIVITES. 



361 



while the ancient Israelites, stimulated by miraculous 
victories, and led on by the stern precepts of the Old 
Law, intolerantly swept away all the people whom they 
encountered in the Promised Land, there were a few 
heathen nations that it was the Divine pleasure to 
exempt from destruction ; and amongst these, the 
Hivites, then inhabiting the Lebanon, are specially 
mentioned. The Hivites were not " smitten with the 
edge of the sword f they were not exterminated like 
the nations around them ; and it is stated in the pages 
of Holy Writ, that they were spared for the express 
purpose of acting as a curb upon the evil dispositions 
of the haughty Israelites, who were too prone to 
exhibit black ingratitude, and rise against the merciful 
protector who had led them out of the house of 
bondage. 

It would unquestionably be hazardous to lay down 
in any dogmatic way, that the present occupants of the 
Lebanon are to be traced back to that ancient people 
who were empowered to resist the children of Israel, 
who " drove out all from before them." It would be 
presumptuous, no doubt, to attempt to establish a 
positive identity, after the long lapse of ages, and 
through so dense a haze of obscurity, between the 
old Hivites, and the modern Druses; and yet there 
is no plausible plea to imagine that they are not 
descendants from this hardy race. 

There are, indeed, in support of the affirmative 
position, some striking points of analogy and singular 



362 



COMPARISON BETWEEN 



similarities in their respective histories, and in their 
personal and social attributes. 

The Israelites, whom Joshua had led into the land 
of Canaan, were a powerful and all-conquering people ; 
and the Hivites of those ancient days must have been 
a remarkably courageous and resolute nation, to have 
been able to withstand the subjugating arms of so 
potent a foe. Now, the present race of mountaineers, 
who inhabit those same heights of the Lebanon, are 
characterised by similar qualities of undaunted bravery 
and stubborn determination ; and as, of old, the 
Hivites resisted the Israelites effectually, whereas sur- 
rounding nations fell completely under their victorious 
swords, so have the present race of Druses sustained an 
indomitable resistance against the yoke which the 
Turkish government has succeeded in fully imposing 
upon all other classes inhabiting districts within the 
range of the Ottoman sway. The Druses substantially 
hold their own to the present hour, and the Turks 
cannot be said to have ever entirely subdued their rude 
independence. 

It was not without a special object that the ancient 
Hivites were permitted to dwell in the Lebanon un- 
scathed by the Israelites. If they were thus made 
a signal exception to that general practice by which 
the Israelites, on entering upon their new possessions, 
did not desist until they had scattered and rooted out 
all the infidels whom they encountered — if the Hivites 
were allowed to remain undispersed in their mountain 



THE DRUSES AND THE HIVITES. 



363 



homes in the land of Canaan— it was, as we are expli- 
citly told in the words of the Bible, in order " to 
prove Israel by them." They became a peculiar instru- 
ment of Providence in bringing about the chastisement 
and humiliation of the children of Israel. 

The Angel of the Lord had announced that the 
Hivites of the Lebanon would be as thorns in the sides 
of the Israelites — and they were so. It is a strange 
coincidence that, in like manner, have the Druses 
proved themselves as thorns in the sides of the Otto- 
man government. They have not only resisted and 
overcome the various attempts made at different times 
to trample down their national freedom; but, pro- 
fessing a creed entirely foreign to that of the Ottoman 
empire, they have also stood as a permanent and 
effectual barrier against the spread of Islamism upon 
their mountains. 

All the intermittent forays, expeditions, and inva- 
sions undertaken from time to time against the Druses 
by the Turkish troops, have been made in vain; 
they have produced no durable results; their effects 
have been never more than temporary and tran- 
sient; and wonderful is the recuperative energy of the 
Druse mountaineers. Nor was the best of Egyptian 
generals, Ibrahim Pasha, more successful in his attempts 
to subdue the Druses, during his famous Syrian cam- 
paigns. With all the prestige of his great success and 
powerful name — with all his daring and skill, and the 
formidable numbers of trained Egyptian soldiery under 



364 



IBRAHIM PASHA. 



his command— he was unable to reduce the Druse 
mountains to subjection. The proud spirit of too bold 
a people opposed his every effort. Deeply imbued with 
the heroic traditions of their ancestors, and loving their 
freedom as they loved the breeze of their mountains, 
the Druses met all his assaults with noble courage ; 
they clung to their native heights with the most despe- 
rate tenacity ; and even when, temporarily overpowered, 
they seemed to bend before the greater strength brought 
to bear upon them, the fire of their resistance only 
smouldered, to burst forth again with renewed ardour 
on the first opportunity. 

Notwithstanding Ibrahim Pasha's conquests of every 
part of Syria, it is notorious that the Druses, although 
overcome for a limited time, remained, nevertheless, 
virtually unvanquished. They never endured the 
thraldom which the son of Mohamed Ali so fiercely 
imposed upon neighbouring races. Indeed, that dreaded 
Egyptian prince gave proof of more diplomatic expe- 
diency and pliability of temper, in their regard, than 
was his custom to exhibit towards others; for he 
showed an unusual readiness to adapt himself, as much 
as possible, to the peculiarities of the mountain chief- 
tains. In short, Ibrahim Pasha never was in a 
position to declare himself conqueror of the Druse 
tribes. 

A remarkable incident, however, in which the Druses 
were concerned, occurred at the time of his evacuation 
of Syria ; and it will always remain to the indelible 



COURAGE OF IBRAHIM PASHA. 



365 



discredit of a man who, in other respects, was a brave 
soldier. The circumstance which I am about to men- 
tion evinced on the part of Ibrahim Pasha an unscru- 
pulous, cruel, and pitiless disposition. At the period 
when Sir Charles Napier was in possession of the sea- 
port towns of Beyrout and Sidon, he communicated 
with the Druse chief— at that time the Christian Emir 
Bischir — and demanded the help of the mountain tribes 
to aid the British arms against the Egyptian usurper. 
This summons of Sir Charles Xapier came to the know- 
ledge of Ibrahim Pasha, and he instantly sent a short, 
fierce message to the Emir, and to all the chiefs con- 
nected with the Lebanon, declaring that if one single 
man amongst them should make the slightest attempt 
to aid the English in resistance of Egyptian authority, 
such a step would be tantamount to signing the death- 
warrant of every Druse in his power, for all of them 
should be immediately put to death. 2s T ow, at that 
very moment, the sons and nephews of the Emir Bischir 
himself were actually serving under the Egyptian 
general, and were, of course, at his mercy. 

Cruel, indeed, was the dilemma of the unhappy Emir 
between the imperative demand of Sir Charles Xapier 
on the one hand, and, on the other, the savage menace 
of Ibrahim Pasha ; and it is not surprising that he was 
checked in his natural impulse to throw himself heart 
and soul into the contest on the English side, by the 
tender and irresistible influence of parental love. The 
mental distress which the poor Emir must have suffered 



366 THE DRUSES AND THE OTTOMAN GOVERNMENT. 

on this occasion was speedily followed by more material 
afflictions : it is a noteworthy circumstance that, 
owing to his unwillingness to co-operate with the 
British commander, that unfortunate chief sacrified his 
position in the mountains, was deprived of his dignities, 
driven from his home, and obliged eventually to seek 
a refuge at Malta. 

It is only in referring to private incidents and private 
individuals, that we are brought back to the theory 
upon which we started, because as these Druses have 
eventually displayed themselves a perfect thorn in the 
side of the present Ottoman government, so undoubtedly 
were the Hivites of the time of the Israelites. It is an 
impudent theory, one which will admit of no support, 
to presume that the present Druses are really and 
de facto descended from those ancient people inhabit- 
ing a like country; still there is a remarkable feature 
about prophecy, an unmistakeable effulgence which 
shows not only the determination of the Almighty, but 
also reveals the exactness and precision with which 
every act is performed. 

It is no extraordinary incident to see God's hand not 
only pointing, but pressing upon certain countries and 
certain people in so fearful a manner that the greatest 
sceptic is obliged to admit that such things are beyond 
the ordinary sway of mankind. Who can controvert, 
who dare to dispute that there is a curse, and that a 
fearful one, imposed about the countries in the neigh- 
bourhood of Jerusalem ? Who that has travelled as 



THE COUNTRY ROUND JERUSALEM. 



367 



I have travelled can but silently admit that even 
the very atmosphere is contaminated'? There is the 
breath of a curse upon the wind — there is the 
shadow of a curse under every unfoliaged stream — 
there is the aspect of a curse in the open, barren, 
heat-ridden mountain — there is the echo of a curse 
in every silent breeze that stirs those leafless boughs 
in that most desolate country which surrounds Jeru- 
salem ; and yet the daughter of Zion was once famed 
as a fruitful and a happy land ! 

Alas ! who that now looks upon her desolation, 
excepting a Christian, could ever dream it possible 
that that terrible arid country was once a perfect 
garden; and yet if such can be the indispensable 
will of the Creator, why is it not possible that 
these very people, the Druses, who are permitted 
to bask in the same sunshine, who are permitted 
to enjoy the same health and strength, I say, why is it 
not possible that these men should be set as a land- 
mark to reiterate the spread of infamy, to check the 
spread of so-called religion, to illustrate that terrrible 
fact that man without the true knowledge of God is 
better than that man who disgraces God's own acts by 
aping mercy and illustrating in his own foul mind 
every evil passion. 

I may speak harshly, and yet I appeal to that great 
monitor of the human race, — I appeal to the conscience, 
— that these men, ignorant as they will appear when 
we enter into their creed, — foolish as many of their 



368 



CHARACTER OF THE DRUSES. 



symbols may be, — absurd as many of their doctrines 
— in their private lives may defy the most devout na- 
tion to produce a sample equal to them. It may be 
a far-fetched idea, it may be that I am travelling out 
of the locality of what some call common sense, but 
still it is a startling question, and yet not the less true, 
from its effect, and that question is this, why should 
God leave a people so strange as the Druses amidst 
others so-called educated, if it was not that their very 
follies should mark out a theory for the wiser to work 
upon as a theme % 

A Druse may be an infidel, but the Christian is a 
worse one. We possess the secret; we possess the 
sample of godliness; we have the doctrine of such a 
man's life as Christ developed, and yet there is not one 
in ten thousand who can follow it to perfection. The 
Druses have nothing but their own wild theory, but 
they are honest and earnest in what they believe; and 
depend upon it they are a beacon left by the Almighty 
to indicate to those who shamelessly profess a creed 
more righteous, that there is nothing more beautiful 
than human nature, when untainted by the vices of 
doctrinal discipline. 

It is, therefore, not what I attempt to assert, but it 
is a supposition, a wide field for investigation, to sup- 
pose that these Druses may be descended from the very 
Hivites to whom I have alluded to. It would be too 
presumptuous for any man to assert that he knew with 
any degree of certainty the pedigree of a people so 



THE DRUSE CREED. 



369 



little known, There is one thing, however, most 
remarkable ; from the days of Solomon freemasonry has 
remained a secret, and here is a people who, notwith- 
standing every artifice, have resisted the inquisitive 
disposition of men. There is only one conclusion, and 
that is the most appropriate one that sensible men can 
arrive at. I imagine that this is the real one, and I am 
induced to believe that those who read the creed will 
think as I think, that the real intrinsic secret is 
absurdity, — absurdity wrapt in the grossest folds of 
superstition, and made marvellously singular by a 
theory without any basis. 

The real facts of the case are, that the Druse creed, 
possessing items of every acknowledged religion, is 
in itself a marvellous fable, evidently collected from 
every existing creed, and yet so badly arranged that it 
contains in itself no plausible theory, and nothing that 
will admit of investigation. All our greatest prophets, 
the people that Mohametans most believe in, many of 
the incidents which constitute the creed of the Hindoo, 
the absurd Indian notion, and that Chinese theory that 
the soul is transmigratory ; these have been glossed over, 
and so superstitiously worked up, that the very fact of 
the ignorance with which they are glossed, lends a 
charm to the theory; and the people wish little to 
investigate a dogma apparently dreadful yet possessed 
of intrinsic charms, and they tamely submit to the 
supposed superior knowledge of their Akals, — men, in 
reality, possessed of but little knowledge, and who might 

2 B 



370 



THE DRUSE CREED. 



meet with a parallel in the professors of a faith in 
many lands claiming to greater civilisation than the 
Lebanon. 



371 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

THE PRESENT EMIR OF THE DRUSES — ■ HIS SEAT OF JUDGMENT — 
SYSTEM OF TAXATION — PERSONS EXEMPT FROM TAXATION — THE 
ORDER OF ARAL — NECESSARY FORBEARANCE — -PERIOD OF PROBA- 
TION — THE KHALOUES, PLACES OF WORSHIP — FUNERAL OF AN 
ARAL — A NATIVE-BORN DOCTOR — MEDICAL PRACTICE— CURE FOR 
A FAINTING FIT — HUNTING THR SCORPION — VENERATION FOR 
LARKS — CONCLUSION. 

Ye frigid tribe, on whom I wasted long 

The tedious hours;— 

Ye first seducers of my easy heart, 

Most potent, grave, and reverend friends — farewell! 

Crabbe. 

The present Grand Emir of the Druses on the 
Lebanon, is the Emir Ameen, of Shouaifat, a person 
whom it is impossible to contemplate without feelings 
of the liveliest interest. In his outward demeanour, 
and in his observance of religious ceremonies, he may 
be said to profess his adherence to the tenets of the 
Mohametan creed, yet is he more than suspected of 
holding the followers of that faith in secret contempt. 
And here, if time allowed us, we might indulge in 
many a speculation as to the effect which the Mohametan 
religion, as a religion, has upon the minds of the people 

2 b 2 



372 



THE PRESENT EMIR OF THE DRUSES. 



at large. But this much I think we may say; that we 
ought to be tardy to despise a people who have been 
able, in the moment of danger, to produce the warriors 
of Citate, Oltenitza, and Silistria, whether the green 
banner be only the symbol of fanaticism, or of a spirit 
similar to that which animated the Waldenses and the 
Pilgrim Fathers. 

The name of the Grand Emir Ameen is regarded with 
the highest reverence by the whole body of the Druses 
in the Lebanon ; and while he exercises supreme and 
unquestioned authority, he is fortunate enough to enjoy 
the esteem and good- will of all those who are subject 
to his rule. The independent spirit of these people 
delights in showing honour to their noble ruler. No base 
fear chills the warmth of their ardour, or overawes the 
ready manifestation of their feelings, but they gladly 
pay the willing homage of free hearts to one whom they 
regard as worthy to be the leader of the free. 

This spirit of veneration and attachment, which is 
so seldom found to animate the breast or exercise any 
considerable effect on the conduct of the inferior in 
his relations with his superior, is, no doubt, one of the 
most powerful causes in bringing about that union 
among the Druses which is justly called strength, and 
in producing that wonderful moral influence which they 
unquestionably exercise over the rest of the population 
in the Lebanon. It is a spirit which has generally 
been supposed to be peculiar to the inhabitants of 
mountainous regions; but if it is to be found among 



HIS SEAT OF JUDGMENT. 



373 



the hill-clans of Scotland, it does not the less manifest 
itself among the wild roamers of the American prairie. 
But whether this spirit of attachment to the chieftain 
be a plant which finds a more congenial soil on the 
mountain than the plain, this is certain — that nowhere 
is it of stronger growth or more prolific in its fruits 
than among the Druse tribes of the Lebanon. 

Like the princes of old, the Grand Emir occupies 
the seat of judgment, it being his duty to pronounce 
sentence in criminal cases, to decide civil causes, and 
settle and adjust all quarrels and differences among 
his people — a duty the exercise of which, in some 
countries more favored by so-called civilisation, would 
leave him little time for any other occupation. But 
among a people so simple in their habits and moral 
in their lives, crime must be comparatively of rare 
occurrence, and the causes of dissension cannot be very 
numerous or complicated. However, trials do some- 
times take place; and upon these occasions the Grand 
Emir attends personally in his tribunal, which is situ- 
ated at Shouaifat ; for that may be said to be the 
centre of judicial authority and power. 

Notwithstanding the supreme influence of the Grand 
Emir, all the secondary emirs or sheiks, who are the 
constituted rulers of the villages which are under his 
sway, exercise a wonderful independence, and often 
adjudicate upon cases and condemn criminals without 
any reference to him. As it was in the earliest ages 
of recorded time, so it is now: the same patriarchal 



374 



SYSTEM OF TAXATION. 



form of government — the same little knots of families, 
whose head is their ruler and judge in peace, and their 
chieftain in the hour of battle. Thousands of years, 
that have seen empires rise and decay, serve but to 
mark the unchangeableness of this wild people. All 
nations of all times have passed over its territories — 
all religions have had their origin there; and at this 
moment, on this little mountain range, whose population 
is scarse and whose soil is uncultivated, are to be found 
living representatives of all religions and all countries. 
All are there ; and among them all, but still apart, is 
the Druse tribe — perhaps the representative of the 
old Gentile world; and when we see their emirs and 
sheiks sitting in the judgment-seat, we are reminded 
of our Saviours words, " Ye know that they which are 
accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship 
over them, and their great ones exercise authority 
upon them." 

One of the principal duties of these secondary sheiks 
is the collection of taxes, upon which they are allowed 
a per-centage ; after deducting which, the remainder 
has to be remitted to the Grand Emir. The amount of 
this tax differs according to the means of the peasant, 
and its payment is seldom, if it is ever necessary to exact 
it, enforced, as the peasant, being generally honest by 
nature and habit, and having few if any inducements 
to avarice, comes forward at the appointed time, and 
with good heart and will pays his proportionate share 
of taxation. 



PERSONS EXEMPT FROM TAXATION. 



375 



Here is no national debt — no feverish excitement 
about the national imports, no dread of the tax- 
gatherer's unwelcome knock ! Law has not here 
superseded justice ; and if a man cannot pay, he need 
not fear the unyielding rigour of men grown hard 
in the repeated infliction of authorized suffering — who 
do not scruple to take the bed from under the penni- 
less defaulter, careless what becomes of his houseless 
family, so long as the king's or the queen's taxes be 
satisfied. So paternally is the power of collecting this 
tax exercised among the Druses, that the people are 
proud to give — they would consider it a mark of 
meanness to avoid payment, and will often be seen 
to vie with one another in liberality, pressing forward 
eagerly to give their tribute ; for sympathy with their 
rulers makes them hold it an honor to support them 
to their uttermost. 

The only individuals among them who are not 
subject to the tax are the Akals, who are in every way 
allowed the greatest liberty, and who, while free from 
the slightest restraint, at the same time enjoy the 
greatest respect. The word Akal, which means sober 
or quiet, is very properly applied to the people who 
bear that name ; for in reality, the Akals are the more 
quiet, good, and sober part of the Druse population; 
their whole lives are devoted to doing good, and they 
meet several times in the week, in their Khaloues, or 
sacred edifices, where they discuss their creed, and give 
each other good advice. 



376 



THE ORDER OF AKAL. 



It may give the reader some idea of the extravagant 
length to which the Akals carry their notions of purity 
and goodness, to state that they never accept of food 
which may be casually offered to them ; neither will they 
take money under any circumstances, lest either should 
have been procured by dishonesty, fraud, or violence. 

The class of Akals is not necessarily restricted to the 
male part of the population : women are often admitted, 
provided they are of a certain age, and are prepared 
to subject themselves to the same system of self-denial 
which characterises the men. The following is the 
course of proceeding which is adopted when a person 
is desirous of joining the order. A necessary preli- 
minary is, that the person who is a candidate for the 
honor of admission into the sacred corps should intimate 
his intention to an Akal, upon which a special meeting 
is held. This is a very solemn affair, and the ordeal 
one of the strictest imaginable. An inquiry takes 
place into the general character and conduct of the 
aspirant ; his whole life is passed in review ; his habits 
criticised, and everything that is known respecting him 
fully discussed. 

Supposing him not to have been guilty of any crime, 
and to be well recommended, the next step is that he 
should be made acquainted with the requisitions of 
the Druse religion, which are then clearly set before 
him ; and he is informed that to be worthy of becoming 
an Akal, he must forthwith abandon every vice, and 
relinquish all the idle habits he may hitherto have 



NECESSARY FORBEARANCE. 



377 



indulged in. He must not smoke, or drink wine or 
spirits ; neither must he take snuff ; he must be 
content to wear the plainest apparel (this is perhaps 
aimed at the fairer portion of Akal society) ; and, in 
short, laying aside every thought of splendour and 
luxury, must only consider how he can best show, in 
his demeanour and life, a firm devotion to the simple 
habits and sacred principles of the order of which he 
now desires to become an adopted member. 

But this is not enough: the capability to lead a 
holy life is not always equal to the desire. A tem- 
porary excitement of religious tendencies, a more than 
ordinary warmth of imagination, a sudden calamity, 
may for a time awaken the stings of conscience, and 
affect the tenderest sensibilities of the heart; but 
the good impressions too often yield before the force of 
temptation, and the dormant energies which have been 
aroused for the moment sink back into their wonted 
lethargy; or a zeal un tempered by knowledge proves 
that we have undertaken a burden too heavy for us to 
bear, and that we had better not have put our hand to 
the plough if we cannot forbear to look back. 

The wise Akals, therefore, are not satisfied with the 
best of promises. They require a little proof, and to 
this end they allow the candidate for admission into 
their ranks a certain fixed period, varying in duration 
according to the man's previous life, before the lapse of 
which he is expected to have made up his mind finally 
as to his capability of conforming faithfully, for the 



378 



PERIOD OF PROBATION. 



rest of his life to the tenets of so strict and severe a 
profession. During this period of probation all his 
actions and pursuits are closely watched and scrupu- 
lously noted ; and should he, at the end of this allotted 
time, still evince a desire to become an Akal, he is 
then admitted into the khaloue, and suffered to attend 
some of their religious meetings and listen to an expo- 
sition of their creed and doctrines. Twelve months 
are now devoted to his religious education, at the end 
of which time he is considered to be sufficiently tried 
and instructed to assume the title of Akal. Then the 
ceremony of donning the white turban takes place, for 
by this white turban the Akals are recognised ; and he 
is thereupon admitted into all the mysteries of the 
faith, and becomes one of the initiated brethren. 

Although almost all of what are commonly called 
the pleasures of life are denied to these holy men, yet 
celibacy is not enjoined upon the sect. An Akal may 
marry, if he pleases ; but it is not often that he does 
so, especially among the Druses. The Akals of that 
tribe are, generally speaking, desirous to detach them- 
selves as much as possible from the ordinary pursuits 
of mankind ; they lead a life of the strictest devotion, 
passed in prayer and profound contemplation of the 
mysteries of religion, and are held in the highest 
respect and esteem for their amiable manners and 
virtuous lives by the whole of the people. 

They exercise, too, a very considerable influence in 
temporal matters, for nobody would think of entering 



THE KHALOUES, PLACES OF WORSHIP. 379 

upon any place, or conducting an affair without con- 
sulting the Akals; nothing of importance would be 
attempted, even by a sheik, without their advice and 
approval; and altogether they exercise a general con- 
troul and supervision over the manners, morals, and 
proceedings of the Druse people, which has a most 
beneficial effect, for certainly, as the Akals are the 
best of the Druses, so the Druses are the best of the 
inhabitants of the Lebanon. 

The Akals are more especially regarded as the 
ministers of peace; their very presence banishes dis- 
cord, and whenever a Druse peasant meets an Akal 
he salutes him as one who is the harbinger of peace 
and happiness, and kisses his hand with reverence and 
affection. 

The Akals are very jealous of their khaloues, and 
no European, or stranger, is suffered to enter them 
during the hour of prayer; but at any other time, they 
may be entered by any sect upon obtaining permission 
of an Akal, although there is little to reward curiosity 
in the khaloues, for they are very plain buildings. The 
walls of some of them are ornamented with figures of 
different colors, and a rush mat and basin of running 
water are always to be found in them ; the battle flags 
of the tribe are also laid up there. 

As the Akals are so highly reverenced during their 
life, all honour is paid to them when death summons 
them to another world. Upon the occasion of an 
Akal's funeral the whole village turns out and accom- 



380 



FUNERAL OF AN AKAL. 



panies the body to the grave, and the last rites are 
performed with greater honours than are usually paid 
even at the funeral of a sheik. Sums of money, pieces 
of cloth, and numerous presents are often given by the 
villagers to be deposited in the grave or vault of the 
deceased Akal, and all the virtues and good actions 
which have distinguished him in life are described on 
his tomb with affectionate fidelity. 

This institution of Akals is a very pleasing feature 
in the customs of the people, and an undoubted 
evidence of the sterling worth of their character. It 
must have a most favourable effect in maintaining 
that sympathy between all classes, the absence of which 
is often to be so much deplored in countries that 
boast of the favours of civilisation, where the bitterness 
which marks the war of class interests would perhaps 
be somewhat assuaged, if there were a few Akals 
moving about, with the words of peace and good- will on 
their lips, teaching masters and men that after all they 
are brethren. 

The Druses are not a people who can lay claim to 
any very extensive acquaintance with the art of healing. 
In this respect they must be considered behind the age. 
Their methods of cure are of the most simple descrip- 
tion, and there are no medicines to be found among 
them but such as are in common use among all native- 
born Syrians. In surgery, however, they are by no 
means incapable practitioners, and their performances 
in this respect have often elicited the wonder and 



A NATIVE-BORN DOCTOR. 



381 



admiration of those who prided themselves upon 
superior education and more extensive experience. 

A story is related in Bey rout which, however much 
it may excite surprise or incredulity, is nevertheless 
perfectly true. In 1837, when the great earthquake 
shook Sidon, the wife of the French Consular Agent 
there received some very dangerous fractures. All the 
European doctors in Beyrout and Sidon were called in, 
and all pronounced that immediate amputation was 
necessary. The lady, however, refused to undergo the 
process of amputation; and perhaps having had too 
much experience of European doctors to think them 
infallible, determined to consign herself to the care of 
a native-born doctor. 

This man was renowned for having in his possession 
medicinal herbs of a most wonderful virtue, which were 
said to have effected astonishing cures; and when he 
was summoned to the lady's bedside, he rejected all 
thoughts of the use of the knife, and merely com- 
menced plastering the injured limbs with his potent 
herbs; and all through the illness of his patient, he 
never resorted to anything else but his medicinal herbs 
and outward applications. In the space of two months 
after the lady was consigned to the care of this cele- 
brated hakeem, she was so far recovered as to be able 
to leave her room and walk about without support, 
and it was not long before the limbs regained their 
wonted strength and a perfect cure was effected. 

This may be called a happy accident ; but certain 



382 



MEDICAL PRACTICE. 



it is, that in all rude countries the most favourable 
results are often produced by the use of herbs and 
simples. It may be that in warmer climates the blood 
is more easily worked upon, and is less obstructed by 
the injurious influences which the ways and habits of 
a more artificial state of society are constantly pro- 
ducing on the general system : but, however it may be, 
philosophy would do well not to despise effects merely 
because they are brought about by means simple in 
their nature and of easy access. 

The art of bleeding in the arm is very common 
among the Druses, and indeed among all the natives of 
Syria : whilst in the act of bleeding a person they 
invariably place before him a plate or bag full of coins, 
which they request him to count, the action of moving 
the fingers being considered to facilitate the operation 
and promote the free circulation of the blood. 

While upon the subject of medical practice among 
the Druses, I may mention the ordinary remedies 
resorted to in the case of a sore throat and fainting fit. 
The process of cure adopted in the former case is simple 
enough, but, as I can state from experience, very 
effectual. A small quantity of oil is heated, and then 
the operator dips his fingers in the oil and rubs the 
neck of the patient, but with such force that it requires 
some strength to bear it ; afterwards a piece of coarse 
woollen cloth is heated and bound round the neck, and 
the patient is sent off to bed, to rise next morning per- 
fectly cured of his sore throat. 



CURE FOR A FAINTING FIT. 



383 



In the case of a fainting fit, the method used to recall 
suspended animation and bring the person to his senses 
again, is as amusing as it is extraordinary. Supposing 
the reader to have fainted away in the house of a Druse, 
a hunt immediately takes place for all the keys in the 
establishment, or other articles of steel or iron of a 
similar nature, which are speedily collected together 
for the benefit of the patient, and are duly distributed 
over different parts of his body. Some are placed on 
his naked breast, one on each hand, one on each foot, 
and one is held against his forehead. These are sup- 
posed to recover the person from his fainting fit and 
recall his scattered senses ; and, indeed, whether it be 
the effect of the cold steel or not, I have witnessed this 
process, and in the course of a few minutes the person 
has recovered from his swoon, after having been thus 
overwhelmed with keys. 

I have heard of a lady who once walked into a 
chemist's shop, and said she was going to faint, and who 
was told by the accommodating, but not over-polite 
attendant behind the counter, that she was at perfect 
liberty to do so. " What! " she exclaimed, starting up, 
"do you think I am going to faint in the shop?" 
Perhaps the lady had resided at some period of her life 
among the Druses, and had before her eyes the potent 
infliction of the keys; in which case, I think she was 
perfectly justified in postponing her fainting fit till she 
reached some more retired spot than the shop for the 
purpose of enduring the edifying process. The Druses 



384 



HUNTING THE SCORPION. 



are not free from superstition ; amulets and signet rings 
are common among them, and supposed to possess a 
talismanic power. 

The lark and the serpent are held in great reverence 
by them ; and not only the Druses, but the inhabitants 
of Syria in general pretend that if a person kills or 
hunts a serpent, the injured reptile will breathe upon 
him, and the scent of the serpent's breath will remain 
upon him till an opportunity is afforded to a brother 
serpent to revenge himself for the maltreatment of his 
fellow. 

Scorpions, however, enjoy no such respect; they are 
hunted both by Druses and Beyrouteens. Some parts 
of the sands which lie to the south-east -of Beyrout are 
infected by scorpions, especially the more distant part 
of the road which leads to the sands from the Ras Bey- 
rout gate. Just before coming to these sands small 
holes may be seen at the bottom of the hedges which 
run on either side of the road ; these holes are the 
habitations of the scorpions, and the following is the 
mode in which these venomous reptiles are hunted by 
the natives. 

In the hedges and fields grow an immense number of 
red poppies ; plucking one of these, we divest the flower 
of its leaves and retain the stem with the small round 
lump which contains the seeds. We take this stem, 
and fixing upon a scorpion hole, we drive the stem, the 
lump foremost, into the hole, and then wait for the 
scorpion to bite ; immediately it does so its claws stick 



VEXERATIOX FOR LARKS. 



385 



to the lump, and it cannot disentangle itself; we then 
draw the stem out with the scorpion hanging on it. 
A thin stick with a small piece of bees' wax at the end 
will answer the same purpose as the poppy. 

The veneration of the Druses for larks is also, as I 
have said, to be remarked ; it is considered a sin for 
any one to shoot at those aerial songsters, and sooner 
or later, it is believed, condign punishment will attend 
the criminal act. 

And now, gentle reader, I have accomplished my 
task ; but at such a moment as the present, I cannot 
hastily say farewell; for there are thoughts which 
linger in the mind that has dwelt on the subject of my 
theme, of too great interest to be summarily dismissed; 
thoughts, too, some of which represent the present 
hopes and fears of thousands, and which are equally 
shared by the rude dwellers in lowly cottages, and by the 
wealthy occupants of lordly halls ; for who can quit 
the land I have attempted to describe without being 
carried to the theatre where is being enacted that 
terrible struggle upon which so much depends. 

"The East" is once again a "Household word," 
stirring the heart's blood of peer and peasant, and 
once again upon its sunny shores " war sits horror- 
plumed ;" but the tide of time has swept away all the 
old landmarks. No English Coeur de Lion now wields 
the sword against a Turkish Saladin ; but side by side 
with the Moslem foe of yore, marches the flower of 
English youth, to drive back the unjust and barbaric 

2 c 



386 



CONCLUSION. 



attacks of a people who were but lately our allies, 
from a land which we were once wont to deem it our 
highest calling to invade and destroy. 

And now, as though time, with harlequin touch, 
were determined to try his most wondrous changes, 
now, amid those once hostile banners, floats in friendly 
unison, the battle flag of that gallant nation which 
we have hitherto been taught to regard as our most 
intrepid foe, or our most formidable rival : but " old 
times are changed, old manners gone." England and 
France have shaken hands, and from such an union we 
may augur the best success for the cause of order of 
civilisation. The war is unavoidable, because forced 
upon us, and its object is not conquest, but the esta- 
blishment of a permanent peace, the benefits of which 
will aflect the East not less than the West, and will be 
too wide-spread not to include the territories with 
whose people and scenery I have endeavoured to make 
the reader acquainted. 

Doubtless a new era is about to dawn upon these 
mountains. The West has borrowed from the East all 
that is beautiful in art and science and philosophy; 
and let us hope that she is now about to repay some 
part of her great debt. Let civilisation reform the 
abuses, and overthrow the corruption of the Hill- 
Government. Let education be introduced among the 
people ; let superstition be gradually rooted out — 
not encouraged for sinister ends. Let the unhappy 
civil wars which so constantly rage between Druse 



CONCLUSION. 



387 



and Maronite be for ever extinguished, and peace 
and happiness will assert their triumphant reign on 
these mountain heights ; the wealth and internal 
resources of the country will be developed ; hidden 
treasures in botany, natural history, geology, mine- 
ralogy will be brought to light, and the land of the 
patriarchs will revive once more. 

It cannot be the final destiny of this wondrous land, 
the abode of the God-taught seers and kings, to remain 
enveloped in the dark cloud of a false faith. Error 
and superstition cannot long maintain their altars on 
the mountain heights which have been brushed by 
angel-feet — where the voice of the Deity has proclaimed 
his will to the people of the old world, and where the 
living God has moved, teaching the new law of peace 
and love. Slowly behind the deserts of Arabia must 
sink the last sun of Islamism ; and over the summits of 
the snow-capped tops of Lebanon will rise with all its 
brightness the morning star of Christianity. 



2 c 2 



RELIGIOUS CODE OF THE DRUSES 
TRANSLATED. 



Chapter 1. 

a short explanation of the ocean of time. 

The Creator, the supreme, created all things. 

The first thing He created was the minister "Universal 
Mind" _Ji*H) the praises of God be upon him ! 

and the Creator gave to " Mind" the power to create, 
classify, and arrange all things. 

The Spirit " Mind" has the following attributes — 
"The Virgin of Power," (^jJJJI jL) "The Receiver of 
Revelation," — " The knower of the Wishes, 

or Desires" (V^U ^JU) " The explainer of commands," 
(^\ ^SuSuo) « The Spring of Light," QyW OcJo) "The 
Will of Production," (^*X\ " The Chosen of the 

Creator," (c <Ju^\ ci^) and so forth. 

It was this spirit, "Mind," known by the above attri- 
butes, that arranged the world. 

The " Mind is the Pen which writes upon stone, and 
the stone which it writes upon is " The Soul." 

The "Mind" is a perfect being, which being is at 
liberty to act, and is possessed of a free will ; all he ordains 
or creates is in accordance with the will of the Creator. 



390 



When the Creator created " Mind/' He made him pos- 
sessed of a free will, and with power to separate, or to 
remain and dwell with the Creator. 

Ultimately "Mind" rebelled and abandoned the Crea- 
tor, and thus became the spirit of sin, which sin was 
predestined to create the devil. 

And the existence or creation of the devil occasioned 
the creation of another spirit called " Universal Soul," 



of all things existing. 

The devil is perfect sin, and the creation of this spirit 
was permitted by the Creator, to show the unlimited 
power of the Creator in creating an opposite spirit to God. 

Now when "Mind" rebelled against the Creator, the 
Creator threw him out of heaven; but "Mind" knew 
that this was done by the Creator to test his faith, and to 
punish him for his sin; so he repented and asked for 
forgiveness, and implored help against the devil. 

And the Creator pitied "Mind," and created him a 
helpmate called " Universal Soul;" this spirit God created 
from the spirits of the knowledge of good and evil. 

Then "Mind" told "Soul" to yield obedience to the 
Creator, and "Soul" yielded, and became a helpmate of 
"Mind;" and these two spirits tried to force into submis- 
sion to the Creator the evil spirit or devil. 

They came to the evil one, "Mind" from behind, and 
"Soul" from before, in this fashion to marshal the devil 
into the presence of the Creator; but the devil evaded 
them, being unguarded on either side, which enabled him 
to escape from them to the right and left. 

The "Mind" and "Soul," finding this to be the case, 
required each of them a helpmate: "Mind" required a 
helpmate to keep the evil one from the right side, "Soul" 




and this spirit was the cause of the creation 



391 



one to guard him on trie left, so as to hem in the devil 
between them, and prevent his escape on any side. 

So they moved and immediately two spirits were 
created; the one called " Word," (aJlffO and the other 
" the Preceding," (uJuUH)- 

The devil now found himself hemmed in on all four 
sides, and felt the want of a spirit to help him ; and as to 
all things there must be an opposite, the Creator knowing 
the thoughts of the devil, inspired " Mind," and thus 
created him a supporter (y^Lj); and when this supporter 
was created it was against the wishes of " Soul." 

The "Mind" and "Soul" commanded this supporter 
to yield to the Creator, and he yielded and worshipped 
the Creator. 

And the Creator commanded the supporter to yield to 
"Mind" and "Soul;" but being instigated by the devil 
and tempted to disobedience, this supporter refused sub- 
mission to "Mind" and "Soul;" whereupon, being cast 
out of heaven, he clung to the devil. 

Then the Creator inspired "Mind," and "Mind" in- 
spired "Soul," and created the Word (as already said). 

And the Word could do good or evil. 

And the Mind and Soul told "Word" to yield to the 
Creator, and the Word yielded; and the four spirits, 
"Mind," "Devil," "Soul," and the supporter, having 
inspired "Word," created "Preceding," who had good 
and evil in him, but more of the former than the latter; 
so that "Preceding" yielded ready obedience to the 
Creator, and was also subservient to "Mind" and "Soul." 

Now all these spirits above enumerated inspired "Pre- 
ceding," and thus created "Ultimum," the last spirit 
created, and he yielded to the Creator. 

And the Creator commanded "Ultimum" to be sub- 



392 



servient to "Mind/ 5 "Soul," "Word/' and "Preceding;" 
and "Ultimum" was subservient. 

Now all these spirits were true spirits before they 
entered the modern world, and their generation is as 
follows: the Creator created "Mind," and "Mind" 
created "Soul," and "Soul" created "Word," and 
"Word" created "Preceding," and "Preceding" created 
"Ultimum," and "Ultimum" created the heavens and the 
earth and all therein. 

And it came to pass that the aforesaid five spirits came 
to the devil, "Mind" from behind, "Soul" from before, 
"Word" from the left, and "Preceding" and "Ultimum" 
from the right, in order to force him to yield submission 
to the Creator; but the devil refused submission, and 
finding himself confined on all sides, with no means of 
issue except upwards and downwards, and as, moreover, he 
feared fleeing upwards, where he must needs encounter 
the Creator, the devil fled downwards, or sunk into the 
earth; and this was the origin of hell. 



Chapter 2. 

When the world was created it was at the will of the 
Creator who called it " The world of Souls," and these 
souls are masculine or feminine. 

All the Spirits created were created from, or out, of 
" Mind." 

The origin, or root, of these spirits is the Creator : next 
to him ranks " Mind," then " Soul, and so on in regular 
succession, as they were created, down to " Ultimum." 

The souls that have been created in the world, that is 
Mankind, were numbered from the beginning, and have 



393 



never diminished or increased, and will remain so for all 
eternity. 

Each soul is perfect in itself, possessing all the senses, 
such as hearing, seeing, feeling, tasting, smelling, and 
touching, and possessing all the attributes and senses 
which originated by the regular successive creation of the 
first seven spirits; and each spirit created possessed, in 
addition to its own peculiar gifts, the capacity and senses 
of the others. 

All the souls that were created in the world possessed 
the knowledge of all things except of their Creator, for 
which cause the Creator placed them in separate bodies 
{earthly tabernacles), and*, by this means they obtained 
knowledge of their Creator. 

All the stars, suns, moons, which are in sight of the 
earth were created for the use and good of these souls. 

The bodies, or encasements, of these souls are all cor- 
ruptible, but the souls themselves are incorruptible and 
unchangeable, shifting from one man or beast to another, 
and never differing from what they were and continue 
to be. 



Chapter 3. 



Whatever exists that is in possession of the senses of 
hearing, seeing, feeling, was created from or made out of 
the seven original spirits, and gained by them the addi- 
tional sensation of heat and cold. 




394 



When these four were created, then the world, Chaos, 
received a body and the Image. 

By Image, is signified length, breadth, height, and 
depth. 

This Chaos is round ; and the further star, called Atlas, 
was created by him. 

Then Chaos came to the orbits of the constellation, and 
immediately were created the twelve signs of the Zodiac: 
some fixed, others in perpetual motion. 

Then Chaos created Zahil, and from thence, from one 
orbit to the other till the seven planets were made; and 
none of them travel on the same orbit, but each has a dif- 
ferent orbit. * 

All this was done by Chaos — by the help of the seven 
original spirits, who in their turn derived aid from the 
Creator. 

The names and the order of the orbits that are furthest 
from the sun are as follows— 1. Huilah, (cWO 2. Atlas, 
(y^JJs^) o. Abrage, 4. Zahil, (_V^) and so on, to the 
last orbit nearest the sun. 

The names of the seven planets are Zahil, 
Mushtari, (c t ^4^*a-«) Marrih, (^jyo) Shams, ((j**o£>) 
Zahrat, (sy^j) Aatarid (Vjlks) and Kamar, (jjf). 

These seven arranged the interior economy of the Earth, 
and all that happens to the animal or vegetable and mineral 
creation is through the agency of these seven stars, or 
planets : fortune and misfortune are ruled by them. 

All the aforesaid planets combined, or moved, and heat 
fell downwards to a medium spot, and there forming a 
mass, constituted fire. Further downwards the air was 
gathered together and became the medium, or concentrated 
spot for Atmosphere. 

And from the dampness exuding hence, Water was 



395 



created. This water was made half a circle (not being a 
circle), and from the water again was created a half circle 
of land. 

The light particles of heat ascending upwards towards 
the moon caused the existence of winds; and what 
remained of the original mass of heat occupied the spot 
where it fell. 

The light particles of heat that remained became fire, — 
and the light particles of water became breezes, or 
zephyrs. 

The rest became earth. 

The light particles of earth became dust, sand, stones, 
etc.; and the remainder rocks, mines, minerals. 

Chapter 4. 

The Creator having made man, made him perfect, more 
so than the beast. 

When the Creator determined upon creating man, He 
created the first man and woman; and after them, pro- 
creation was to take place and mankind was to be born 
from the woman. 

The bodies of the first man and woman were like unto 
houses without inmates, which required to be inhabited, 
and about which, when once inhabited, peace would 
reign. 

All the virtues that " Mind" possessed were given to 
the human body, and from the time that u Mind" entered 
into the body nothing more was created; everything 
having been already provided against the wants of man and 
beast. 

The souls which were placed in the bodies had 
each, before being thus confined, the privilege granted 



396 



them by the Creator of speaking, feeling, and possessing 
and enjoying all the senses. 

Only they were ignorant of the truth of the origin of their 
existence ; nor were they acquainted with the Creator. 

They did not seek God by their works, nor did they in 
their ignorance consider or reflect on their end and future 
punishment. 

It was therefore necessary that there should be specific 
or peculiar orders among them. 

And the Almighty Creator had compassion on the people 
and granted them those specific orders. 

And those specific orders are the borders, or order, 
of Truth <Jjj^») and the order of Falsehood, 

(^•$\ o^). 

The right direction, or path, emanates from the order of 
Truth; but there is no true direction, or path, in the order 
of Falsehood, which is also the confines of error and cor- 
ruption. 

The order of Truth began to enlighten the people and 
teach them to follow the truth and know and acknowledge 
their Creator ; and souls were turned to the knowledge of 
God, and they were persuaded of His existence by His 
Creatures. 

Then again the Creator had mercy upon His people, and 
manifested to them an entire separation, in which sepa- 
ration there is no priesthood. 

And the Creator showed himself to them in his name 
and by his works and mercy, and he granted them mira- 
culous revelations which proved his greatness and pointed 
out, or testified, to his Unity, by instilling in their hearts 
such exclamations as, God is Great! There is no God but 
God ! God be praised ! In the name of God the clement 
and merciful ! and so forth. 



397 



His manifestation, or appearance, was of the highest of 
high importance, for he called them unto him by invitation, 
and spoke to them, saying " Am I not your God?" 

And all the people believed in the Unity of the Most 
High, hence they had no excuse for sin. 

It was necessary that they should regard God as 
superior to them all, wherefore repentance and punish- 
ment were established. 

It was the wisest Mind (may God have mercy upon 
him!) that was standing with God in the place of the 
Priesthood, inviting the people to the knowledge of their 
Creator, the Most High, and of his Unity. 

" Mind" manifested to the people, the arts and sciences, 
and God Almighty aided Mind with his Holy assistance, 
and gave him knowledge, and directions, and other requi- 
sites; and He appointed to " Mind" spiritual powers, and 
save him the titles of Priest, (*}0 Prophet, (^}y«jl\) 
Director, Adviser, (Uj^l) and the like attri- 

butes and appellations. 

He appointed to him also such manifest signs as the 
Sun, the stars, the mountains, the heaven, the earth, and 
the narrow path leading to heaven, 0* 

The order of Truth exists in perfect men who teach the 
people to distinguish between what is lawful and what is 
unlawful, and who caution them against sin and crimes, 
and instruct them in sciences and arts. 

And the benediction of God Almighty was promul- 
gated over the earth, and no man remained to whom the 
blessing did not extend; therefore was there no excuse 
for man to rebel. 



398 



Chapter 5. 

God Almighty saw the existence of the highest of the 
High in the image of humanity for a long period, and he 
is the origin, or cause, of the motion of the world and the 
establishment of all the worlds that are turning round it. 

And in the course of time, it was necessary that the 
people who were in simplicity should be made perfect in 
their intentions, and that they should be able to distin- 
guish the obedient from the rebellious, the constant from 
the inconstant, the just from the unjust. 

The Exalted did not disappear until the people were 
divided into two divisions; one division to the assembly, 
the other to perdition. 

The division of the righteous people was predestined 
from that very beginning to happiness and good. 

The division of those who are born to perdition was 
predestined to disobedience from the beginning to the 
very last day. 

And the Almighty manifestation was repeated and reite- 
rated at different epochs, and He had much patience in order 
that his works might be completed, that the people might 
have time for repentance, and that the decrees of God 
might be established and punishments appointed. 

When God Almighty disappeared, his setting star, 
which is the Perfect " Mind," (may God bless him!) also 
disappeared and left behind him the perfect " Soul," and 
my lord " Word" was his supporter, ((j*Lj). 

Chapter 6. 

The existing orders, or disciples, of Truth that were 
in the " Word" invited the people to recognise the Unity 



399 



of the Creator, and to aspire to the knowledge of the 
Creator's setting sun. the perfect " Mind." 

And when " Soul" disappeared, he created himself a 
supporter, who is " T\ ord," and the existing disciples of 
Truth were in the service of " Soul." 

And when "Word" disappeared, there were created 
after him seven priests from amongst the disciples of 
Truth, and each priest has a spiritual invitation to the 
recognition of the Unity of the Great God. 

Meanwhile the disciples of justice were looking to the 
disciples of injustice that this latter should repent and 
unite with the assembly. 

The disciples of Truth had a law which they regarded 
as their faith, and they followed its injunctions. 

After some time the seven priests declared that the 
cursed Ibliss was manifested in the " Pronouncer of 
invitation, and in the law of his invi- 

tation; moreover, that he established to himself a supporter, 
and the people of falsehood were with him and with his 
supporter. 

The "Pronouncer of invitation" had twelve decrees, 
and his supporter had twelve decrees, established for the 
furtherance of eloquence and falsehood. 

The existence of this speaker, or Pronouncer of in- 
vitation, was, in the days of the confines of Truth, 
imitating and studying the rules of the law, distinguishing 
good from evil, and cognizant of all except what was yet 
to come on the manifestation of the Unity in the millennium 
at the second coining of Ali Almighty. 

Possessing this knowledge, it came to pass that the 
disciples of Truth were deceived by the law of the "Pro- 
nouncer of invitation," which is the despised law as 
manifested by its works. 



400 



This " Pronoun cer of invitation" was wont to declare 
himself a prophet, and one based upon a solid foundation. 

He was also wont to rise upon the people with a sword, 
and with compulsion, in order to force them to embrace 
his law. 

After the death of this eloquent one, his creed was pro- 
pagated on the confines of Truth in order to explain the 
meaning of the descent from heaven. 

And this eloquent one established, himself, an inward or 
secret law, — and was possessed of a sufficient knowledge 
of the true law to base his own creed thereon. 

After the passing away of the supporter of this eloquent 
one, the seven priests arose and embraced his law. 

And every one of these priests has a long and lengthened 
duration, and the experience, or duration, of each of them 
is a hundred thousand years. 

And the nations of the earth inherited the knowledge of 
the law of each priest that came forward obeying its 
injunctions, and appointing doctors, chosen from among 
themselves, to instruct others in the law of each priest, 
until the whole seven had passed away. 

The whole of the duration of the seven priests extended 
over seven hundred thousand years. 

Then appeared the Creator in uncovering the glory and 
shame of the Amr and established the all-powerful Ali to 
reveal his Unity and the extent of his power, to establish 
prayer, to separate knowledge, to give laws, to establish 
decrees, and to refer to the promises and the promised. 

Then again the Creator appeared in a third manifestation, 
and all was repeated as in the second. 

Meanwhile the renowned law continued to grow more 
feeble, or to lose supporters. 



401 



Chapter 7. 

And the people of Truth followed the direction of the 
law, holding fast by the truths, and reposing on the pro- 
mises of the person promised them, for relief from the 
oppressions of the laws of each new revolution, until 
the seventieth revolution should have been completed, 
which revolution precedes the revolution of the Creator 
Almighty. 

And the Creator established the law for the people in 
ten things. 

First, in their equality in production. 

Second, he established the power of materiality. 

Third, he exhibited in the people the grace of existence. 

Fourth, he granted mediators. 

Fifth, he granted the power of choice. 

Sixth, he made freedom of action necessary to the 
people. 

Seventh, he widened the prolongation of patience. 

Eighth, he established pre-eminence by means of one's 
best endeavours. 

Ninth, he opened the gates of repentance. 

And, tenth, he spread before the people the promises 
of the promised. 

When these ten epochs were completed, the existing 
disciples of truth followed the faith of the Priests of the 
Creator, and did their best endeavours to bring forward 
Shutneel, the doctor, (the praises of God be upon him!) 

And God Almighty on his manifestation established 
Shutneel as a priest to the people, and ordered the angels 
to worship him, and all obeyed, except Hareth, the son of 
Tirmah; he refused, and was proud. 

2 D 



402 



Chapter 8. 

Hareth was serving in the priesthood with all the other 
angels, and he was among them when the Creator com- 
manded them to be subjected to Shutneel. 

And the Angels worshipped Shutneel, but Hareth 
refused and abandoned Paradise, and, quitting its borders, 
all the disciples of Falsehood fell with him, and Paradise 
was rid of their presence. 

The Paradise of the Creator extended all over the earth, 
and the disciples of truth entered therein and received 
the commands of Shutneel, the doctor. 

And they kept apart from those who deny the Unity of 
God, and turned out the disciples of falsehood from 
among them. 

Then were established the order of Truth, and the 
words of verity (God's peace be upon them!) 

And the priesthood belonged to Shutneel, who is Adam 
the happy; and Hareth and his followers were jealous and 
plotted contrivances to deprive him of his paradise, and to 
establish an enmity between him and his race. 

Now these deceivers never desisted from their object: 
they came and said, " We have a piece of advice to give 
to you, O our Lord, Enoch; Q-^a^) and to your partner, 
Sharkh, ^jJm) which is good for you both." 

This they kept repeating until they were admitted into 
the presence of Enoch and of his partner Sharkh. 

When they came before them they worshipped them ; 
and Enoch, who is the second Adam, said, " Perhaps you 
have repented and seek forgiveness for your blasphemy 
and disobedience to the priesthood in having assisted 
Ibliss and his associates." 



403 



But the deceiver replied, " No, I swear by your head 
and by the Creator, I have come to give you advice by 
reason of the interest I take in your welfare, and to warn 
you against the injustice of Shutneel in having compelled 
you to be subjected to him." 

I have heard our Lord the Creator (praises be to him!) 
say that the priesthood belonged only to Enoch and 
Sharkh cailiffs in paradise. 

Hereupon Enoch made him swear, and he swore to 
him. 

And as it was the custom that whosoever swore by God 
falsely should be punished, no one dared to swear by 
him falsely. 

And when the deceiver swore to Enoch and Sharkh 
that he was sincere in what he said, true in his deeds, and 
most pure in his words, they believed him, and fell into 
sin in many ways. 

First, by neglecting the commandments of Shutneel. 

Secondly, by changing the priesthood from the person 
to whom it belonged. 

Thirdly, by changing the will of the Creator (praises 
be to him!) and opposing what he commanded them ; for 
the Creator had said, " Do not approach this tree, that ye 
be not of the unjust." 

Fourthly, by believing in the words of one they knew 
to be deceitful. 

And, fifthly, by accepting advice from the father of 
deceit. 

Now after they had committed these sins, and had so 
far forgotten themselves, Enoch and Sharkh awoke to a 
sense of what they had done and perceived their baseness. 

Knowing that Shutneel was aware of their thoughts, 
and that they had no other way left them but that of 

2d2 



404 



repentance and of suing for forgiveness, they went to 
Shutneel. 

They went to him crying, repenting of, and confessing 
their sins, and spoke to the following effect: — 

Thou art the forgiver, and we are the transgressors, 
thou art the pardoner of sins, thou art the merciful, thou 
art the Creator, thou art the clement, oh! our God, for- 
give us. 

With such like words they sued for mercy. 

And when Shutneel knew that Enoch and Sharkh 
were truly repentant he begged the Creator to forgive 
them and to restore them to the position, or grade, they 
formerly occupied. 

The creatures who committed this sin were five in 
number, Enoch, Sharkh, Aneel, Tabookh, and Hibal. 

And Enoch is " The Soul," Sharkh, is my lord the 
" Word," Aneel is the plaintiff, and Tabookh, their 
speaker. 

And the deceiver is the supporter of the devil, not 
Ibliss, and he blasphemed against Shutneel. 



Chapter 9. 

Some people have been foolish, or ignorant enough to 
imagine that Enoch and Sharkh are the " Prophet" and 
" Foundation," but this belief is erroneous. 

Moreover, such a belief would be the real cause of 
perdition, for Enoch is the perfect " Soul," and " Sharkh" 
is my lord " Word" the eternal. 

And this is the decree of Adam, the happy. 

And the Priest, the truthful, has said, that Adam is 



405 



three Adams, — Adam the first, and Adam the happy, the 
entire, and Adam the forgetful, the resolute. 

And it is said with regard to Adam the second, in the 
Koran, that he rebelled against his God : now this man 
was Enoch. 

And Adam the forgetful, who was also called Shait, is 
Sharkh. 

Moreover, it is said that Shutneel chose them from 
among his people, and that each of them is related to him. 

And it is furthermore said, that Adam the second and 
Adam the third, who is Sharkh, served in the presence of 
Adam the first ( Shutneel J. 

Enoch and Sharkh are the " Soul" and the " Word," 
and whosoever believeth contrary to this creed, is of the 
unjust in this world, and in the next world, of those who 
are lost. 

So may God make us and all our brethren disciples of 
the true faith, and deliver us from doubts after having 
attained to the truths! Amen. 

Chapter 10. 

Now when the disciples of truth beheld the paradise 
of God and the change in the law of the " Gin," they 
combined together to contradict the existence of Unity. 

And this unbelief grew upon them until all respect for 
the Creator (praises be to him!) had left them. 

Whereupon the pure Shutneel passed away and left 
behind him Enoch, who is the perfect " Soul," and his 
supporter, Sharkh, who is " Word." 

And the disciples of truth that remained, followed the 
doctrines of Enoch during his presence upon earth. 



406 



When Enoch disappeared, his supporter, who is my 
lord, the Word, established the spiritual law and declared 
the Unity of the Creator (praises be to him !) 

And when the Word disappeared, there came after him 
seven praiseworthy priests from among the disciples of 
truth, similar to those that came in the time of Shutneel. 

On the appearance of each of these priests they seve- 
rally declared the Unity of the Creator, and the disciples 
of Truth followed the law of Enoch, receiving in their 
priesthood only the Morteddeens (^^Jo^U) and no 
others. 

Now these Morteddeens were companions of those in 
the human race who recognise the Unity of God from the 
beginning to the day of resurrection, which is the day of 
judgment. 

Chapter 11. 

Now, when the term of the law of Adam {Shutneel), 
which term was a thousand years, (a short time in com- 
parison to the term that preceded it, which was the term 
of the praiseworthy law,) had passed away, the will of 
God commanded the appearance of the prophets, the 
invited. 

And the Creator was wrath against the people of those 
days ; for they inclined towards the believers in the 
Trinity, and he took away his grace from them. 

Then appeared Noah, the son of Lamech, as a prophet, 
and he was the first who established the law which invites 
the people to worship and believe in the unity of an 
image. 

Shem was the supporter of Noah, and he possessed 
twelve decrees. 



407 



And Noah continued in the faith of the people of 
Truth, who profited by his revelations, and invited them 
to cognizance of the book Wahi, which taught the 
difference between good and evil. 

After Shem, appeared seven priests, and the disciples 
of Truth entered into their beliefs; and when the laws 
which established the greatness of the Creator had been 
developed, and their sources studied, then the people 
began to desire a new organisation. 

And the faith of Noah extended to all people, because 
the punishment of the deluge had collected all the people 
under one head, and moreover, the miracles that had 
taken place before the appearance of Noah continued to 
direct the attention of the people to the unity of the 
Creator. 

Now, when Noah appeared, the signs that were esta- 
blished in the law pointed out that which is to come, by 
divulging the unity of Hakem ; (may his power be 
glorified!) 

At the time of Noah, the disciples of Truth were strong 
in the knowledge of the unity of Hakem, but weak in the 
knowledge of the Son, and of his existing in the Father. 

And when the term of the law of Noah was completed, 
there appeared Abraham, the son of Azr, and his sup- 
porter, one of the sons of Ishmael, and after them, seven 
priests. 

And the people of Truth acknowledged the lav/ of 
Abraham, and accepted the invitations of the priests that 
came after him, and the knowledge of the unity of 
Hakem. 

And from the seed of Abraham prophets appeared, like 
unto Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and others. 

Then appeared Moses, the son of Imran, and the people 



408 



of Truth followed his law, and the interpretation of his 
supporter, who was Joshua, the son of Nun. 

Then there appeared other prophets, and their power in 
the knowledge of the unity was as the amount of saliva in 
the throat of man. 

And these were Isaiah, Hezekiah, Nathaniel, Daniel, 
Doodoosalem, and the like, from among the prophets. 

From among the respectable Doctors — Pithagoros, 
Plato, and Aristotle ; the peace of God be upon them ! 

Chapter 12. 

Now, when Jesus, the son of Joseph, appeared with the 
New Testament, and established himself as the Lord, the 
Messiah who is Jesus, (the peace of God be upon him !) he 
was accompanied by his four apostles, John, Matthew, 
Mark, and Luke, (the peace of God be upon them!) and 
the people of Truth profited by his revelations, although 
they pretended to the truth, in the law,. and copied the 
law of Moses in explaining the law of Jesus. 

Then appeared Simon the happy, and the people of Truth 
were on his side, until the time of the seven priests had 
passed away. 

And the strength of the belief, of the seven priests, 
in the unity, was as the amount of saliva in the throat of 
man. 

After this, Mohamed, the son of Abdalla, appeared 
with his law, which is the law of Islam. 

And Mohamed established Ebn Abi Taleb as his sup- 
porter, and all the disciples of Truth followed the law of 
Islam, as they had done every other law that had pre- 
ceded it. 



409 



Now Mohamed was in the time of .Suleiman, the 
Persian. 

When Ali ebn Abi Taleb came forward with his 
explanations of the law of Islam, the people of Truth 
believed in them, and continued therein, until seven 
priests had passed away after him. 

These seven priests were of the seed of Mohamed, 
and are Hassan, Hussein, Ali Ebn Abi il Hussein, Ebn 
Mohamed Ali, JafTar Ebn Mohamed, Ismail ebn JafFar, 
and the name of the seventh is not known. 

The time of Mohamed ebn Abdalla was more evident 
and more demonstrative of power than all the epochs that 
preceded him; consequently, they pretended for single- 
ness in Ebn Ali Taleb, moreover because the prophets 
Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus foretold the appear- 
ance of a man, the highest of the high, whose rank is 
great, whose name be glorified! 

This was Ali ebn Abi Taleb. 

When the term of the priesthood of Mohamed Ebn 
Abdalla was completed, Mohamed ebn Ismail, the prophet, 
appeared, whose law is the final of all laws inciting to the 
right path ; and he is from the seed of Ali ebn Taleb. 

And to Mohamed ebn Ismail there is a supporter 
secretly established in Paradise, and no one knows his 
name, because he does not appear in the manifestation of 
the law which we have. 

But it is certain that Mohamed is a prophet, and that 
God has sent him an evident book ; and he has an open 
law and a secret law, and his works are the works of the 
eloquent that have passed before him. 

Not that Mohamed is not like unto one of them, but 
that he is their partner against injustice. 

And he has brought forward the law, the invitation to 



410 



annihilation, the establishment of a delegate, and the 
promulgation of licentiousness. 



Chapter 13. 

When Mohamed ebn Ismail ( — U«s\J ^ *X*-2ss) 

appeared, and introduced his law, the disciples of Truth 
believed in his law and in his prophecies, and they 
recognised his excellence and his supporter, who was 
Sayeed il Muhdi ebn Ahmed (4X9*! c <?*XaU *3wu*). 

And it is through Mohamed ebn Ismail and his sup- 
porter that are made perfect the perfect in eloquence, 
(UkXl^) the holy men (L*^^), and the priesthood 

Then the power of Mohamed passed to his descendants, 
who are the priests, the respected, until it reached 
Sayeed il Muhdi, and from Sayeed il Muhdi it passed to 
the sessions (djLjIXU), and ultimately appeared openly 
in the kingdom and in the government, through Kaem 
( ^jUM), Mansoor ( ,^a>Jj), Maaz Azeez (j->yd\), 

and Hakem (^XUU), the Eternal, the Assisted, the 
Cherished, the Beloved, and the Governor. 

When the time of rejoicing and of the last Godly 
manifestation arrived, the wisdom of God ordained the 
appearance of the Prophet Zacharias, and this time was 
that of the third priest of the priesthood of Mohamed ebn 
Ismail. 

Before this time, the perfect " Mind" became mani- 
fested in Abi Zacharias in the form of verse from the 
Creator, sent through Karoon ((^jj>j^), and the Lord had 
given forth a law which was the perfect " Soul" repre- 
sented by Abi Saad (axvw j-j), the twenty-first anointed. 



411 



And the existing of Abi Zacharias was in the assembly 
spiritually u^W^W)* an( i to him are attributed 

miracles secretly performed, which will be explained by 
the most powerful of the Unitarians to the weak among 
them. 

Chapter 14. 

Abi Zacharias sent Karoon to the country of the 
Yeman, and surnamed him the Muhdi (director). 

And Karoon understood the secrets of the four books, 
viz., the Psalms, the Old Testament, the New Testament, 
and the Koran ; and his faith was promulgated all over 
the earth. 

And his faith was in the place of one whole day 

(—X*^ . X^vs &3^± of the three days 

mentioned inthe Gospel, on the preaching of Jesus, who 
said to the people, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise 
it after three days/' 

And it was meant by the three days, that the faith 
(zjs.$) of Jesus should last half a day, from twelve o'clock 
to the evening, and the faith of Soleiman the Persian, 
from the time of the appearing of the Comforter, who is 
Mohamed, was to last one entire day ; and the faith of 
Karoon also one entire day ; and the faith of Kaem 
il Muntazar Hamza ebn Ali (^s ^ ay jSaZ&S ^.jIaH) 3 
at the time of his manifestation, half a day from morning 
to noon. 

In the preaching of the Lord the Messiah, no 

manifestation takes place; for Jesus said unto the people, 
" My time is not consummated ; after me will appear a 
director who is prevented from coming at this time*" 

And the Creator, may He be praised! manifested himself 



412 



corporeally, in the time of the fourth Heaven, in Abdalla 
ebn Ahmed, under the name of Ali ; he is the exalted 
over all exalted, unto whom belongeth the right of 
command. 

He also manifested himself corporeally in the time of 
the fifth Heaven, which is Mohamed ebn Abdalla, under 
the name of Maal. 

The appearing of Maal, (may he be honoured and 
glorified!) was in the country of Tadmor to the East, and 
his appearance was extremely beautiful and glorious, and 
he was most rich, and travelled alone with one thousand 
camels laden with goods and merchandise. 

The duration of Maal, the exalted, lasted until the 
time of the fifth priest was completed, who is Mohamed, 
the aforesaid. 

After him appeared his son Hussein, who is the sixth 
Heaven, and after Hussein, his son Abdalla il Muhdi, 
who is called Ebn Ahmed, but who should be called 
Muhdi, and after him, Sayeed il Muhdi, who is the 
seventh from among the prophets. 

The Creator again manifested himself under the name 
of Kaem, as an infant, and in appearance as the son of 
Maal. 

And when the Almighty Maal chose to disappear, he 
called unto him Sayeed il Muhdi, and commanded him to 
serve our Lord Kaem, may his name be glorified! and 
made him the lord of the priesthood, and consigned to his 
care property and merchandise, and appointed him regent 
over the education of Kaem. 

And the power of the disciples of Truth, during the 
time of Sayeed il Muhdi and during the time of his 
supporter Cadah, was most great. 

And the government of the prophets, and of the advisers, 



413 



and of the priests, came to an end with the disappearance 
of Sayeed il Muhdi, in whom mercy was most perfect, 
and whose coming to give advice to the world, and whose 
growing np, and the passing of whose spirit, gave know- 
ledge to the sonls of those who were in the Truth; and he 
was glorified, the most glorious. 

And then appeared as a true prophet Hamza ebn Ali, 
God's praise be upon him ! 

Chapter 15. 

At the completion of this era of the world, there 
commenced a second era, and the wisdom of God thought 
proper to produce Kaem, the Almighty, with Sayeed il 
Muhdi. 

And those who recognised the unity of God were stead- 
fast in the secrets of truth, and in the faith of Ali ebn 
Abi Taleb, his progeny. 

And the secrets of Truth succeeded from one to another 
unto Sayeed il Muhdi, and from Sayeed il Muhdi the 
secrets of Truth reached the Lord of Truth (may his 
name be reverenced!) and the people recognised Kaem as 
a powerful God, because they had witnessed his miracles, 
and because he made manifest unto them wonderful 
miracles whilst he was an infant under the guardianship of 
Sayeed il Mudhi. 

When II Kaem grew up, he took to the priesthood, and 
when he appeared in public, mounted on horseback, with 
the soldiers in his service, Sayeed il Muhdi used to walk 
before him, calling aloud, " I am the servant and slave of 
our Lord II Kaem, and the priesthood was a thing in my 
consignment, and he has taken it from me." 

After this, Sayeed died, and his soul passed to Makhled 



414 



ebn Kebdad (^*>>a£=) one of the kings of the 

West. 

Now, before Sayeed died, he had been an enemy of 
Keis Dad (ibwJ^X the father of Makhled. 

And when Makhled grew up, and his age was six, he 
was informed that Sayeed had been the enemy of his 
father ; so he prepared to fight, and assembled his soldiers 
to go against II Kaem (may his name be reverenced !) 

And when Makhled was eleven years old, the number 
of his soldiers reached four hundred thousand. 

The reason of his assembling all these was, because the 
Almighty had said, " Behold the people of the cursed 
and abominable Makhled ebn Kebdad, surnamed Abi 
Yazeed («\><^j <j-}), there are no people who are more 
sinful, more disorderly, and drunkards." 

Now, Abi Yazeed desired to have a contention with 
II Kaem, (may his glory be sanctified !) and among his 
soldiers there was cheapness, and health, and peace, whilst 
to II Kaem's soldiers there was only his presence and the 
presence of the forty-six. 

And the soldiers of II Kaem were few ; but he granted 
them his assistance and majesty, and went forth in person 
with them, to fight Abi Yazeed. 

And he defeated them, and killed them, and destroyed 
them, and revenged himself ; and when this great miracle 
became known, the faith of II Kaem, the most glorious, 
reached the country of the West, and was promulgated all 
over the earth. 

Chapter 16. 

At the close of the time of the Almighty Kaem, the 
Creator most praised manifested himself bodily and in the 



415 



priesthood in Mansoor, and it was apparently visible that 
he was the son of II Kaem, and that II Kaem had transferred 
upon him the priesthood, and had clothed him with the 
Cailifat, and assigned his power to him. 

And the faith of Mansoor was promulgated ail over the 
earth, and made known to all assemblies, and Mansoor 
performed miracles, and changed some of the articles of 
the law, as the Almighty Kaem had also done before him, 
and his priesthood took place in the country of the West. 

After Mansoor came the chief Maaz in the priesthood, 
and the faith was assigned to him, and he acted as did 
Mansoor, and his time began in the country of the West. 

And Maaz sent Abdalla, whose name was Gouhair, 
with soldiers to Egypt, and he defeated the sons of Abbas, 
(u^Las!! ^j), and conquered Cairo. 

After this, the Almighty Maaz went to Cairo, and con- 
cluded his faith in that city. 

After Maaz, appeared the chief Azeez, the Almighty, 
and his appearance took place in Cairo, and to him Maaz 
consigned the priesthood. 

And the Almighty Azeez manifested signs which 
explained and made evident the unity, and he performed 
miracles which could not be performed by any one, unless 
one inspired by God. 

And he proclaimed his faith, and his miracles were 
known throughout the world, and there remained not a 
single man who did not receive the faith. Praises be to 
him whose grace has been so promulgated by reason of 
his mercy ! 

Then the Creator most praised appeared in Hakem ; 
may his power be glorified, in Cairo ! 

And the five chiefs, II Kaem, Mansoor, Maaz, Azeez, 
and Hakem appeared as though they were sons of each 



416 



other; and this secret priesthood passed together with the 
heavenly posls, from the post of Zacharias to the post of 
Hakem (may his power be glorified!) until it reached its 
real proprietor, Hamza, who, in truth, is the Kaem ; the 
celebrated Hamza ebn Ali ; the blessings of God be upon 
him! 

Chapter 17. 

The repetition of these heavenly characters in human 
bodies, with the changes of names and appearance, was to 
facilitate the understanding of the people, to make perfect 
the way, and to establish a permanent law ; otherwise these 
heavenly characters are all one. 

When Hakem, who is most praiseworthy, renounced 
the priesthood, and clothed II Kaem therewith, from 
whom it came eventually to Hamza ebn Ali (the praises 
of God be upon him !) the Kaem, that is, Hamza, esta- 
blished his faith, and made " the Soul" his law, and my 
lord " the Word" weak among the powerful. 

And Hamza established the order of the truth in his 
faith, and also ordered Hakem to follow the unity of God 
and the Godhead, and the Unitarians entered into his faith 
with many people from among the people of tradition 
(__3ojIaM) and the accepted ; and their entering was in 
ease, and with inclination to rest. 

But there arose among the people a dispute and con- 
tention, and they discovered that God was angry, for he 
punished them, and hid himself from them ; then the 
faith was changed, and innovations were introduced. 

After a year, the Creator Almighty again manifested 
his unity, and he was glorified, and the faith re-esta- 



417 



blished, the laws were made manifest, the covenants 
((. — XajI^X!) were written, and II Kaem (the praises of 
God be upon him !) invited the people to the Unity, 
established the law, and taught the people of Truth to 
contend among each other to enter into the faith. 

And when it pleased God Almighty to withdraw 
himself, he brought Ali the Evident, and made him take 
forty oaths to the effect that he would not raise affliction 
or misfortune on his chosen ones, the Unitarians. 



Chapter 18. 

Then the Almighty withdrew himself, and then appeared 
upon earth an Evil Spirit ; and this Evil Spirit remained 
on earth seven years, and his limits were from Antioch to 
Alexandria. 

And the companions of this evil spirit were tempting 
the Unitarians, of whom they gained a great number, both 
men, women, and children. 

This great Tempter had been spoken of and alluded to 
in the Gospel in several places, and Suleiman the Persian 
(peace be upon him!) had also referred to him in the 
following verse: — 

" The Evil Spirit of Resurrection had only one eye from the time of 
his setting out from Aleppo, in the days of evil; 

And all the Greeks were his supporters in his undertakings which 
were only defeated by making war." 

Since this Tempter was formerly prophesied of, the 
Unitarians supported the evils and misfortunes brought 
upon them with patience. 

Then appeared my Lord Bohaddeen, and he was 
possessed of "the order of Truth;" and Moktanna 
Bohaddeen was the last that appeared; after him no laws 

2 E 



418 



remained uncompleted; lie fulfilled the creation, and 
completed the conversion of the people, and delivered the 
rest of the Unitarians. 

The time of the prophecy of Moktanna was seventeen 
years, and he used to refer his Epistles to the priest that 
was concealed in a place known to him, and also to the 
three spirits, " the Soul/ 5 " the Word," and " the Pre- 
ceding," who were also concealed in a place known to my 
Lord Moktanna. 

And when Moktanna disappeared, he published his 
noble Epistles, with the Epistles of II Kaem, and the 
Epistles of Hamza, the wisdom of Unitarianism, which 
Epistles showed that these noble persons appeared per- 
sonally, and set down a law, which law teaches us to 
know the Laws, the Beginning, the End, the Promise, 
the Threat, the Reward, the Punishment, the Past, and 
the Future. 

And this is what we think proper to show from the 
time of Revelation to the day of the last resurrection. 



ABSTRACT OF WHAT IS NECESSARY FOR A UNITARIAN TO 
KNOW, TO BELIEVE, AND TO OBSERVE, TAKEN BRIEFLY 
FROM THE BOOK OF LAW ((j-OJjiii ljIaS). 

It is necessary that the Unitarian should possess the 
knowledge of four things : — 

1. The knowledge of our Lord God (may his name be 
exalted !) 

2. The knowledge of II Kaem. 

3. The knowledge of the Prophets. 

4. The knowledge of those virtues which it is necessary 
to observe. 



419 



It is also necessary that the Unitarian should believe in 
the Almighty God in his human form, without mixing it 
with questions of " Where/' or "How much/' or "Who ;" 
and that he should believe that that same figure has no 
flesh, nor blood, nor body, nor weight; but that it is like 
unto a mirror when you put the same into a scale to weigh 
it, and look at yourself in it; for does it weigh more by 
your looking at your face in it? So is the figure of the 
Almighty : it does not eat, nor drink, nor feel, nor can 
incidents or time alter it. It is invisible, but contains the 
power of being ever present, and it appeared to us on 
earth in a human form, that we should be better able to 
comprehend it, there being no power in us wherewith 
to compare the divinity. 

It is also necessary that the Unitarian should believe 
in the Almighty God represented in the Ten Directors, 
who are, Ali, El Bar, Zacharias, Elias, Maal, El Kaem, 
Mansoor, Maaz, Azeez, and Hakem, and all are One God, 
and there is no other God but him. 

The highest Ali was all his time invisible, and there 
was no Priesthood with him, and his appearance was at 
the beginning of the world. El Bar was invisible in the 
Priesthood. 

After El Bar appeared Adam il Gerone, who is Enoch, 
with the Unitarian Law, and he followed the Unitarian 
steps of El Bar. After him, appeared seven Priests from 
the " Order of Truth," who followed his steps ; and after 
these, appeared the givers of the Laws, who are Noah, 
Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mohamet, Mohamet the second, 
and Sayeed il Muhdi, and all these were one Soul. Then 
the Priesthood reached its rightful owner, who is the 
victorious Kaem Hamza ebn Ali, (the praises of God be 
upon him !) 

2 e 2 



420 



ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SEVEN LAWS, 

that is, "The Truth of the Tongue/' "The preservance 
of Friendship between Brothers/' "The Abandonment 
of the Worship of Idols/' " The disbelief in evil spirits 
and deceivers/' "The worship of Our Lord in every age 
and generation/' "To be satisfied with the Acts of God 
whatever they might be/' and "To be resigned to his 
will." 

" The Truth of the Tongue" is the belief in the divinity 
of El Hakem, (praises be to him !) the belief in the priest- 
hood of the Kaem (Hamzct), and in the virtue of the Four 
Prophets, their nobility and their perfection ; the belief in 
the Prophets of Truth, and in their prophecy and their 
qualifications; the belief in the Priests, the Leaders; 
the belief in the Noble Wisdom w T hich is the saving 
religion; the belief in the transmigration of Souls from 
one body to another; the belief in the Resurrection from 
the dead and in the reward or punishment which will 
assuredly follow it. 

" The preservance of Friendship between Brothers" is 
to recognise their ranks and to love them whether they 
be near or far from us ; to humble ourselves before our 
superiors ; to treat well those who are low in rank among 
us, to support them both secretly and publicly, to give 
them their due rights whether temporal or spiritual, and 
to regard them as friends. 

" The Abandonment of the Worship of Idols" is the 
abandonment of the doctrine of those who believe in the 
Tanzeel {Koran), and those who say that God is not 
present everywhere, and those who believe in the Tradi- 
tions, and who make Ali ebn Abi Taleb like unto God, 
and say that God is not One. 



421 



" The disbelief in evil spirits and deceivers " is to curse 
the devils and those who belong to the " order of False- 
hood." 

" The Worship of our Lord in every age and gene- 
ration" is, that man should believe that he is separate in 
his person, and has no visible body, form, or weight. 

" The law to be satisfied with his acts whatever they 
might be," is to be resigned to his will, and this resignation 
has ten degrees, namely : The Knowledge, — The Belief, — 
The Authority, — The Obedience, — The Acceptance, — The 
Hearing, — The Trust, — The Reference, — The Patience, — 
and the Thanksgiving. The Acts of the Almighty 
Creator, of which it is man's duty to be satisfied, are 
numerous, and the greatest of them have Ten degrees also, 
namely, The Revelation, — The concealment, — The Weak- 
ness, — The Miracles, — The system, — Humility, — Law- 
fulness, — Unlawfulness, — Fate and Destiny. 

And these are the Seven Laws which belong to the 
Unity, and "The Truth of the Tongue" is instead of 
Prayer, and "The perseverance of friendship between 
brothers" is instead of giving alms, and "The abandon- 
ment of the worship of Idols" is instead of fasting, and 
"the disbelief in evil spirits" is instead of the "Proofs," 
and "The acknowledgment of Our Lord" is instead of 
the "Two Proofs," and "To be satisfied with his acts" 
is instead of Warfare, and "The resignation to his will" 
is instead of Authority. 

The conclusion is, that whosoever knows and believes 
in what has preceded, and is sound of mind and body, 
and of full age, and free from servitude, will be of 
those who are destined to the ranks, and entitled to 
be present at the private assemblies, at which who- 
soever is present will be saved by Almighty God, and 



422 

whosoever is absent will repent. May God facilitate his 
ways of good, and pour upon us his blessing! He is the 
Assistant, the Giver of Victory, the Wise and the Expe- 
rienced ! Amen. 



Newell, Printer, Assembly Row, Mile End Road. 



NEW WORKS NOW READY. 



A New Edition, in Two Yols. 8vo., with Map, 30s. 
DISCOVERY OF THE SITE OF 

THE DESTROYED CITIES OF THE PLAIN — 
SODOM AND GOMORRAH. 
BY F. DE SAULCY, 

MEMBER OF THE FRENCH INSTITUTE. 

" M. de Saulcv's discovery is one of the most striking within the whole range 
of Biblical Antiquity. The disinterment of Nineveh is, as a matter of feeling, 
a small matter compared with the discovery of Sodom and Gomorrah. We do 
not remember to have read anything of a more thrilling interest than this 
portion of M. de Saulcy's volumes — there is something so strangely awful in 
the idea of those living monuments of Divine vengeance yet remaining after 
six-and-thirty centuries, with the actual marks of the instrument of their 
overthrow still visible upon their blasted ruins. — Guardian. 



THE ONE PRIMEYAL LANGUAGE. 

Now Ready, with Chart, Illustrations, and Numerous Hieroglyph ical Inscriptions, 
Parts I., II., and IIL, price One Guinea each Part, 

THE ONE PRIMEVAL LANGUAGE. 

BY THE KEY. CHARLES FORSTER, 

Rector of Stisted, Esses.; and one of the Six Preachers of Canterbury Cathedral. 

Part I.— THE YOICE OF ISRAEL FROM THE ROCKS OF SINAI: 
Or, The Sinaitic Inscriptions, Contemporary Records of the Miracles, 
and Wanderings of the Exode. 

Part II.— THE MONUMENTS OF EGYPT, AND THEIR YESTIGES 
OF PATRIARCHAL TRADITIONS. 

Part III.— THE MONUMENTS OF ASSYRIA, BABYLONIA, 
AND PERSIA: 
"With a Key to the Recovery of the Lost Ten Tribes. 

"We have read Mr. Forster's book with so much interest that we lose no 
time in giving some account of its contents. Many of our readers are perhaps 
aware that all the rocks at the resting-places throughout the peninsula of 
Mount Sinai are covered with numerous inscriptions in unknown characters 
and languages. These inscriptions amount to many thousands, and extend 
over many miles. Certain Jews who accompanied a Greek merchant to these 
rocks in the sixth century, assigned the inscriptions to their ancestors, who 
are supposed to have cut them in the rocks while wandering in the desert 
after their departure from Egypt. Alter laying down the principles which 
have guided him in the interpretation of the inscriptions, Mr. Forster pro- 
ceeds to give a translation of several of them, confirming, in a wonderful 
manner, the Scriptural account of many of the miracles in the Books of Moses. 
We content ourselves, at present, with having drawn attention to this work, 
which will be of such especial interest to the Biblical student." 

Literat i/ Gazette. 

" The theological value of the records of the miracles of the Exodus, graven 
on the living rocks by the hands of the very men who witnessed them, is 
perfectly incalculable." — Guardian. 



RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET. 



TO BE COMPLETED IN EIGHT MONTHLY PARTS. 



HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN CHURCHES ATsD 
SECTS, 

FROM THE EARLIEST AGES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
BY THE REV. J. B. MARSDEN, M.A., 

INCUMBENT OF ST. PETER'S, BIRMINGHAM, 
AUTHOR OF THE " HISTORY OF THE EARLY AND LATER PURITANS," ETC. 

Part I, Price 3s. 6d., Now Ready. 

A compendious volume on the History of Christian Churches and 
Sects, written fairly, and, as far as possible, in an impartial spirit, seems 
to be much, wanted. The value of such a work will be at once acknow- 
ledged by those who have sought for information on matters of ecclesi- 
astical history, where alone they have hitherto been met with, in the 
countless volumes of writers, intricate and antiquated, or deeply pre- 
judiced, or imperfectly informed. An ecclesiastical history, worthy of 
the name, and suited to the wants of the age, it is no presumption to say, 
has not yet been written ; and such are the labours and the difficulties 
of the enterprise, that it is not, I fear, likely to be undertaken by 
competent hands. Meantime the following outlines are presented to the 
student, in this important field. The younger clergy will find hi them 
some assistance and information which, if I may judge by my own 
experience, is not easily to be met with, and yet is wanted daily. As a 
book of reference, too, the volume, when complete, will, I hope, be 
found worthy of a place in the library of the general reader. 

Of the execution I will say nothing more than that I have endeavoured 
to place myself in the situation of a candid member of the church or 
sect whose story was before me, and to avoid distortion or false colouring. 
I have drawn my facts from the authors of each party, and given their 
own version, unless it be when opponents have denied their accuracv. 
Where the matter is controverted, the statements on both sides are, in 
general, placed before the reader, and he is left to draw his own conclusion. 

J. B. M. 



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